Harrell Investment Partners LLC Invests $286,000 in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Harrell Investment Partners LLC invested $286,000 in AutoZone, purchasing 77 shares in the 2nd quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for AutoZone, with Roth Capital increasing its target from $4,135 to $4,800 and others maintaining a consensus rating of "Buy."
• AutoZone reported a quarterly EPS of $48.71, falling short of expectations, while the company's stock has shown resilience with a recent gain of 1.4%.

Harrell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 77 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 3.5% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in AutoZone by 10.1% during the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,267,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN boosted its stake in AutoZone by 0.9% during the first quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN now owns 7,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,591,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 98.3% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 829 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,161,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in AutoZone during the first quarter valued at about $545,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Capital raised their target price on AutoZone from $4,135.00 to $4,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price target on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,519.46.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:AZO opened at $4,176.31 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,060.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,809.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The firm's revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $51.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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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