Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 17,611 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,436 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,611 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.38% of AutoZone worth $206,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 6,898 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company's stock worth $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in AutoZone by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company's stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company's stock, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AutoZone from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO traded up $37.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3,847.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 106,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,958. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,900.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $3,515.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,294.29. The stock has a market cap of $64.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. Equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone 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.