Ninety One UK Ltd Makes New Investment in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,105,000. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.10% of AutoZone as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $4,087.00.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 8,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO traded up $5.25 on Wednesday, reaching $3,747.33. The stock had a trading volume of 83,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,353. The company has a market cap of $62.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $3,705.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,553.46. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,802.79 and a 12-month high of $3,916.81.

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 net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $36.69 earnings per share. AutoZone's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast 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.