Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in AutoZone by 7.6%, acquiring an additional 24,701 shares to reach a total of 349,317 shares, worth approximately $1.33 billion.
• CFO Jamere Jackson and Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold significant amounts of company stock, with Jackson selling 2,612 shares for over $9.7 million and Rhodes selling 27,500 shares for about $102 million.
• Equity research analysts remain optimistic about AutoZone, raising target prices significantly, with recent updates indicating a potential target price of up to $4,800, reflecting a consensus rating of "Buy".

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 349,317 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.08% of AutoZone worth $1,331,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at $229,000. Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 86.7% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 74 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 13,519 shares of the company's stock worth $51,545,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. Mizuho upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $4,100.00 target price (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,101.29.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.7%

AZO opened at $4,128.6070 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.38. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,898.57 and a 12 month high of $4,187.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3,800.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,686.55.

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

AutoZone 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AZO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.