Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 4,025 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) by 4,025 shares, bringing its ownership to 111,743 shares valued at approximately $426 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 92.74% of AutoZone's stock, with significant increases in holdings by firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and Barclays PLC.
• Analysts have set various price targets for AutoZone, with consensus estimates averaging $4,087, and the stock currently rated as a "Buy" by the majority of research analysts.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,743 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.67% of AutoZone worth $426,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 77,015 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,603,000 after acquiring an additional 36,916 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $95,480,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 204,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,840,000 after acquiring an additional 26,036 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 target price on AutoZone in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $4,059.42 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,898.57 and a 1 year high of $4,094.69. The company has a market capitalization of $68.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $3,731.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,637.60.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $36.69 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the company'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 value of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total value of $9,737,666.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 427 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,877.35. This trade represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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