Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Raymond James from $3,850.00 to $4,000.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James’ price objective points to a potential upside of 14.10% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Argus lowered shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,601.85.

AutoZone Price Performance

AutoZone stock traded up $32.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,505.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 35,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,453. AutoZone has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,563.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,345.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,221.36.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 324,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,421,000 after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $834,556,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.