Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 3,990 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in AutoZone by 843.6%, now owning 4,463 shares valued at approximately $17 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for AutoZone, with Oppenheimer setting a target of $4,600 and a consensus rating of "Buy" across multiple brokerages.
• AutoZone reported earnings of $35.36 per share, missing estimates, while revenue grew 5.4% year-over-year to $4.46 billion.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 843.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,463 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AutoZone were worth $17,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock worth $2,936,535,000 after buying an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in AutoZone by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 324,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,039,421,000 after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in AutoZone by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 204,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,840,000 after purchasing an additional 26,036 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in AutoZone by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,603,000 after purchasing an additional 36,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its position in AutoZone by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 170,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,238,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 target price on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 price objective on AutoZone and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AutoZone stock traded up $89.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3,858.37. The stock had a trading volume of 104,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,330. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,898.57 and a fifty-two week high of $3,919.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $3,707.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,617.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $36.69 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,460,434.78. The trade was a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.