Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Trims Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,809 shares of the company's stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.46% of AutoZone worth $245,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AutoZone from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $3,724.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46 % decrease in their position. 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AutoZone stock traded up $98.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,667.69. 42,370 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,762. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,728.97 and a 12-month high of $3,916.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,576.24 and a 200 day moving average of $3,347.51. The firm has a market cap of $61.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.