Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 795 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth 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 AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 128.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO traded up $84.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,606.82. 367,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 130,307. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,801.49 and a 12-month high of $3,916.81. The company has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $3,694.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,534.79.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $36.69 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AZO shares. 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,072.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total value of $9,737,666.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 427 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,877.35. This represents a 85.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 now owns 159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AutoZone

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.