Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 728 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,929 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.13% of AutoZone worth $70,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th 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. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 25.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,724.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,940. This trade represents a 96.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. The trade was 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 worth $42,177,331 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.5 %

AutoZone stock traded down $19.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3,742.91. The stock had a trading volume of 27,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 131,547. 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 capitalization of $62.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's fifty day moving average is $3,609.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,370.89.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.