Headland Capital LLC Takes Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Headland Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 18.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company's stock worth $141,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,898 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,455,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares during the period. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AutoZone by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,460,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in AutoZone by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company's stock worth $545,033,000 after buying an additional 77,015 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,016 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,383,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. Argus downgraded AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AutoZone from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $3,814.91.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.2 %

AZO stock traded up $6.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $3,762.67. 52,971 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 131,743. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The company has a market cap of $63.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's fifty day moving average is $3,623.06 and its 200-day moving average is $3,382.68.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of AutoZone 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $619,401.63. This trade represents a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total value of $17,568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $581,940. The trade was a 96.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.