Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 249 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. by 3.3%, bringing its total holdings to approximately $29.86 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised target prices for AutoZone, with estimates ranging from $3,740.00 to $4,200.00, and the stock has received a consensus rating of "Buy."
• AutoZone recently reported earnings of $35.36 EPS, which missed consensus estimates of $37.07, even though its revenue was up 5.4% year-over-year.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,832 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $29,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 61 shares of the company's stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in AutoZone by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,262 shares of the company's stock worth $13,647,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock worth $11,267,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN now owns 7,761 shares of the company's stock worth $29,591,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 price target (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO traded up $15.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $4,007.93. The stock had a trading volume of 100,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,496. 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,765.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,670.49. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,898.57 and a twelve month high of $4,094.69.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. AutoZone's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.