Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys 255 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,701 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,263 shares of the company's stock worth $8,437,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,655 shares of the company's stock worth $6,857,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the company's stock worth $4,401,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $19,555,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AZO shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO traded up $12.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2,985.54. 114,397 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 124,587. The company has a market cap of $51.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,277.88 and a one year high of $3,256.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,005.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,759.35.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $24.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.