Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases 144 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. by 105.9%, acquiring an additional 144 shares, bringing their total holdings to 280 shares valued at $1,040,000.
• Analysts are generally optimistic about AutoZone, with a majority assigning buy ratings, while BNP Paribas Exane and TD Cowen raised their target prices significantly, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• AutoZone's recent earnings report showed a miss in EPS at $48.71 compared to estimates of $50.52, leading to an anticipation of adjusted earnings for the current fiscal year at 152.94 EPS.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 105.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN now owns 7,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,591,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 829 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,161,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at about $545,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,127,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,155.00 to $4,811.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE:AZO opened at $4,076.62 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,980.10 and a twelve month high of $4,388.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,149.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,856.03. The company has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $51.58 EPS. The company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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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