Ground Swell Capital LLC Acquires New Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Ground Swell Capital LLC has acquired a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) worth approximately $347,000, purchasing 91 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors now own a significant 92.74% of AutoZone's stock, with various firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and JPMorgan Chase increasing their stakes substantially.
• Analysts have raised price targets for AutoZone, with estimates reaching as high as $4,850.00, and a consensus rating view of "Buy" with a target price of $4,087.00.

Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 91 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 603 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,931,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,850,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. The trade was a 64.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 427 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,877.35. This trade represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AZO traded up $15.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4,007.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,525. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $3,765.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,668.31. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,898.57 and a twelve month high of $4,094.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.26 billion, a price-to-earnings 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). The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $36.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.