Brio Consultants LLC Makes New $297,000 Investment in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Brio Consultants LLC has made a new investment in AutoZone, acquiring 78 shares valued at approximately $297,000.
• Analyst ratings for AutoZone are largely positive, with 19 analysts giving a buy rating and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.
• Insiders of AutoZone have sold a total of 33,862 shares valued at approximately $126 million over the last quarter, indicating significant insider selling activity.

Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 78 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 61 shares of the company's stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in AutoZone by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,262 shares of the company's stock worth $13,647,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock worth $545,033,000 after acquiring an additional 77,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,016 shares of the company's stock worth $211,383,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America raised shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $4,100.00 target price (up previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,792.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.39. The company's 50 day moving average price is $3,709.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,603.53. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,898.57 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 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 negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $36.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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