Lafayette Investments Inc. Reduces Stake in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Lafayette Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in AutoZone by 3.2% in the second quarter, selling 104 shares and maintaining 3,155 shares, representing 2.4% of its portfolio.
• A series of analyst upgrades resulted in new price targets for AutoZone, with Goldman Sachs raising its target from $3,894 to $4,090 and Barclays increasing it from $3,916 to $4,610.
• Insider trading activity showed significant sales, with CEO Philip B. Daniele selling 2,533 shares for approximately $10.2 million, reducing his stake by nearly 98%.

Lafayette Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 104 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up 2.4% of Lafayette Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings in AutoZone were worth $11,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 14.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 202 shares of the company's stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 3.5% in 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. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at $4,076,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,970.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,980.10 and a fifty-two week high of $4,388.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $4,149.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,867.94.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $51.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $221,148.40. This trade represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,393 shares of company stock valued at $33,755,091 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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