Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,401 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,884 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up approximately 3.9% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.89% of AutoZone worth $396,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Rock Creek Group LP bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,038.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on AutoZone from $3,420.00 to $3,250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on AutoZone from $3,523.00 to $3,394.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $3,058.17.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded down $48.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2,772.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 231,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,965. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,277.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3,022.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,826.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.72.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The company reported $36.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $35.67 by $1.02. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $34.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.36 earnings per share for the current year.

About AutoZone

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.