Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 127 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 186.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in AutoZone by 750.0% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 17 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 target price on AutoZone and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 target price on AutoZone in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $4,000.00 target price (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,072.24.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 8,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,762 shares of company stock valued at $147,189,762. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO traded down $49.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3,634.34. 119,857 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,931. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,792.14 and a one year high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $3,695.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,506.97.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $36.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.