Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 687 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,760 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of AutoZone worth $45,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AZO. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at $643,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $687,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Aubrey Capital Management Ltd raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 7.7% in the third quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the company's stock worth $3,556,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZO. DA Davidson boosted their target price on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,505.00 to $3,420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $3,400.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,108.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,756,456.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 910 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 valued at $50,335,193 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AZO traded up $8.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $2,930.17. 178,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,918. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,047.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,813.48. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,277.88 and a 12 month high of $3,256.37. The company has a market cap of $50.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $24.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone 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.