Strategic Global Advisors LLC Sells 1,044 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 57.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 774 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,044 shares during the quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $2,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after buying an additional 419,375 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 324,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,039,421,000 after buying an additional 17,518 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $834,556,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $683,867,000 after buying an additional 13,771 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 204,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,840,000 after buying an additional 26,036 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,841.00 to $3,995.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $3,887.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.2%

AZO stock traded down $9.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $3,870.93. The stock had a trading volume of 114,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,069. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,728.97 and a 1-year high of $3,926.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3,671.82 and a 200 day moving average of $3,432.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone Company 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.