Balefire LLC Has $423,000 Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Balefire LLC decreased its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 82.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111 shares of the company's stock after selling 523 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock worth $2,936,535,000 after acquiring an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $834,556,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 6,083.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 90,656 shares of the company's stock worth $290,281,000 after purchasing an additional 89,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in AutoZone by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock worth $545,033,000 after buying an additional 77,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.9%

AZO stock traded up $30.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $3,520.48. 204,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 129,545. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,801.49 and a twelve month high of $3,916.81. The company has a market capitalization of $59.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,696.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,529.06.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,940. This represents a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 8,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. This trade represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,072.24.

About AutoZone

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.