Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires Shares of 16,551 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 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 filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% during 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 bought a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 30.0% during 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. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the company's 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 value of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 406 shares in the company, valued at $1,460,434.78. This represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total value of $17,568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,940. This represents a 96.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,662 shares of company stock valued at $131,999,089. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 target price (up previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded up $14.22 on Thursday, hitting $3,756.40. 117,950 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135,099. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $3,705.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,554.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.39. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,836.81 and a 12 month high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The business's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $36.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS 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.