AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Acquired by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 110.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 253 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,560.00 to $3,678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Roth Capital raised AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,326.80 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,672.31 and a 12 month high of $3,416.71. The company has a market capitalization of $55.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,226.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,142.72.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $32.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current 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.