DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Lowers Stake in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. by 0.6%, owning approximately 15,359 shares, valued at $55.42 million, after selling 88 shares in the second quarter.
• CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of AutoZone stock for $10.18 million, resulting in a 97.87% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Analysts have given AutoZone a Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $4,544.68 following several upgrades from notable firms.

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,359 shares of the company's stock after selling 88 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.09% of AutoZone worth $55,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $902,929,000 after buying an additional 239,970 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the first quarter worth approximately $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company's stock worth $3,570,296,000 after acquiring an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in AutoZone by 349.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 74,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,190,000 after purchasing an additional 57,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 4,484.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,917,000 after purchasing an additional 26,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares of the company's stock, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,393 shares of company stock valued at $33,755,091 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AutoZone stock opened at $4,006.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,149.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,868.90. The stock has a market cap of $67.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,980.10 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11.

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

AutoZone announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $4,850.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4,544.68.

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.

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