Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. by 11.7% in Q1, owning 6,391 shares valued at approximately $24.4 million.
• Institutional investors hold a significant 92.74% of AutoZone's stock, with various large investors recently initiating or boosting their positions.
• The recent earnings report revealed that AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% with revenue increasing 5.4% year-over-year, despite missing analyst EPS estimates.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,391 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in AutoZone were worth $24,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded up $15.45 on Friday, hitting $4,007.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,496. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,765.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,668.31. 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 $67.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

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 net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $36.69 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.