Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 29,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,480,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.18% of AutoZone at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 750.0% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 17 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:AZO traded up $46.58 on Friday, hitting $3,736.21. 190,971 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 129,947. The company has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,698.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,466.57.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $36.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $4,100.00 target price (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4,054.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.