Evercore ISI Lowers AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target to $3,346.00

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.99% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet lowered shares of AutoZone from a "c" rating to a "d+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock traded up $6.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,909.94. 177,204 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,758. The company has a market cap of $50.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $2,992.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $2,751.32. AutoZone has a one year low of $2,277.88 and a one year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. AutoZone's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $24.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AutoZone will post 151.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,890 shares of company stock valued at $58,216,693. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rock Creek Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MUFG Americas Holdings Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 166.7% in the 3rd quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp now owns 16 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% 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.