Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 78 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,936,535,000 after buying an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at about $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after buying an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 204,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,603,000 after buying an additional 36,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,480,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 target price (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,087.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on AutoZone
AutoZone Stock Down 0.9%
Shares of AZO stock opened at $4,000.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $3,747.90 and its 200 day moving average is $3,654.19. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,898.57 and a 52-week high of $4,094.69.
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. AutoZone's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $36.69 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at AutoZone
In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares in the company, valued at $31,696,515.78. The trade was a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
AutoZone Profile
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Free Report)
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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