AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Holdings Trimmed by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank has reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. by 1.9%, selling 900 shares to hold a total of 47,300 shares valued at approximately $180.3 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC, have increased their holdings in AutoZone significantly in the first quarter of the year.
• Analysts have set new price targets for AutoZone, with an average target of $4,087, indicating strong buy sentiments from multiple research firms.

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of AutoZone worth $180,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 3.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 61 shares of the company's stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in AutoZone by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,262 shares of the company's stock worth $13,647,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock worth $545,033,000 after purchasing an additional 77,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in AutoZone by 10.1% in the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock worth $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. The trade was a 64.88% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AZO. Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $4,000.00 price target (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on AutoZone and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

AutoZone stock traded up $4.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $4,039.57. 96,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 113,581. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,898.57 and a 52-week high of $4,094.69. The company has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $3,737.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,646.80.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $36.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.