111 Shares in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Purchased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,326,545,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after acquiring an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $834,556,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company's stock worth $522,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,776 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE AZO traded up $40.85 on Friday, hitting $3,656.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,434. The firm has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $3,556.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,325.86.

Remove Ads

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AZO. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,724.00.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total value of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This trade represents a 92.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.