SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. Purchases New Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Key Points

• SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc., purchasing 2,694 shares valued at approximately $10 million, which makes AutoZone 5.9% of its holdings.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for AutoZone, with Evercore ISI increasing it from $4,250 to $4,500, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock, which has an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales by VP Richard Craig Smith and VP John Scott Murphy, indicating a decrease in their ownership of AutoZone shares following recent stock sales.

SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,001,000. AutoZone makes up 5.9% of SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.2% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 141 shares of the company's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 105 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 66 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,775.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4,538.21.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AZO opened at $4,173.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50 day moving average price is $4,133.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,848.42. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,980.10 and a 52 week high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $51.58 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current 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.

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