Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,240 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in AutoZone were worth $8,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZO. Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $4,000.00 price objective (up previously from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,072.24.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO traded down $29.85 on Wednesday, hitting $3,688.75. The stock had a trading volume of 111,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,316. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,801.49 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The business's fifty day moving average price is $3,698.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,538.44. The stock has a market cap of $61.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.39.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $37.07 by ($1.71). The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The business's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $36.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.