Sowell Financial Services LLC Acquires Shares of 180 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 750.0% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 17 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AZO shares. Wall Street Zen raised AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $4,000.00 price target (up previously from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised AutoZone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,072.24.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AZO opened at $3,599.90 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $3,698.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,518.49. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,801.49 and a 12 month high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 8,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. The trade was a 76.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total value of $9,737,666.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,912 shares of company stock worth $136,901,262. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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