Raymond James Trust N.A. Increases Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 224 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 4.3% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 32 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 101 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in AutoZone by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. BNP Paribas raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,099.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,111.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,029.28. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,510.00 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The company has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $46.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.