Element Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. by purchasing 741 shares valued at approximately $2,825,000, making it the firm's 7th largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have a positive outlook for AutoZone, with target price estimates ranging from $3,811.00 to $4,200.00, and an average Buy rating from multiple brokerages.
• Recent insider activity includes significant share sales, with the SVP and CFO reducing their positions by 64.88% and 85.95%, respectively, in recent months.

Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,825,000. AutoZone comprises about 0.7% of Element Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,936,535,000 after acquiring an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 1st quarter worth $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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock worth $655,603,000 after buying an additional 36,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $95,480,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $4,000.00 target price (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 price target on AutoZone and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 target price on AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock traded up $15.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $4,007.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,496. The business's fifty day moving average price is $3,765.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,670.49. The firm has a market cap of $67.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,898.57 and a one year high of $4,094.69.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during 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%. AutoZone's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $36.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,877.35. This represents a 85.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.