Morse Asset Management Inc Sells 504 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Morse Asset Management Inc decreased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up 2.0% of Morse Asset Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Morse Asset Management Inc's holdings in AutoZone were worth $7,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 price target (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,591,877.35. This represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,862 shares of company stock valued at $114,431,089 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO traded up $31.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,761.65. The company had a trading volume of 62,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,396. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,894.02 and a twelve month high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day moving average is $3,702.15 and its 200-day moving average is $3,582.14.

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

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.