Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 161 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 309.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 213 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,589,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,426,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. First Merchants Corp bought a new position in AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth $229,000. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its position in AutoZone by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 140 shares of the company's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on AutoZone and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 target price (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $4,000.00 target price (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America raised AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 target price on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,072.24.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,606.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,694.76 and a 200-day moving average of $3,532.18. The company has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,801.49 and a one year high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $36.69 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total value of $17,568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at $581,940. This trade represents a 96.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total value of $9,737,666.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,591,877.35. This represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AZO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.