Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 296 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,422 shares of the company's stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of AutoZone worth $81,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 price target on shares of AutoZone and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $4,087.00.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 427 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,877.35. The trade was a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,546 shares in the company, valued at $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock traded up $19.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $3,788.48. The company had a trading volume of 115,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,327. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $3,701.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,548.45. The stock has a market cap of $63.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.39. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,802.79 and a 1-year high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The company's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $36.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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.