Weiss Ratings Reaffirms "Buy (B-)" Rating for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Buy (B-)" rating for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), reflecting confidence in the company's stock performance.
• Analysts from Evercore ISI and Morgan Stanley raised their price targets for AutoZone to $4,500.00 and $4,700.00 respectively, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to a "strong sell".
• AutoZone reported earnings of $48.71 per share, missing expectations, with revenues of $6.24 billion, slightly below analyst forecasts.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reissued by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of AutoZone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO traded down $65.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $4,020.44. The stock had a trading volume of 112,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,105. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,137.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,850.01. AutoZone has a one year low of $2,980.10 and a one year high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. AutoZone's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $51.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,771,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,574,374,000 after purchasing an additional 11,142 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after acquiring an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AutoZone by 371,123.0% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 935,482 shares of the company's stock worth $3,472,724,000 after purchasing an additional 935,230 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in AutoZone by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 714,091 shares of the company's stock worth $2,650,870,000 after purchasing an additional 11,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 444,671 shares of the company's stock worth $1,649,228,000 after acquiring an additional 8,187 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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