NewEdge Wealth LLC Has $75.55 Million Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• NewEdge Wealth LLC holds a $75.55 million stake in AutoZone, Inc., representing about 1.4% of its portfolio, after trimming its holdings by 2.2% in the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity saw key executives, including the SVP and CFO, sell significant portions of their shares, with total insider sales amounting to $126 million over the last 90 days.
• Despite missing earnings estimates of $37.07 with reported earnings of $35.36 per share, AutoZone achieved a 5.4% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $4.46 billion for the quarter.

NewEdge Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,814 shares of the company's stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up 1.4% of NewEdge Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. NewEdge Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.12% of AutoZone worth $75,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company's stock worth $2,936,535,000 after purchasing an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,033,000 after buying an additional 77,015 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,916 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $95,480,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 26,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, May 28th. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,087.00.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.8%

AZO stock traded up $31.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,999.47. The stock had a trading volume of 64,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,719. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,898.57 and a one year high of $4,013.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $3,710.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,626.01. The company has a market capitalization of $67.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $36.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.