AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Bought by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,129 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $22,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after purchasing an additional 6,226 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after purchasing an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,338,000 after purchasing an additional 129,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 150,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,382 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AutoZone stock opened at $3,107.53 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3,112.88 and its 200-day moving average is $3,025.11. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,510.00 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37. The company has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $46.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,613,046.40. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.