Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 14 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 779 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $2,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in AutoZone by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,898 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after buying an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,455,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE AZO opened at $3,605.88 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3,433.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,258.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Company 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.