ING Groep NV Has $268,000 Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

ING Groep NV trimmed its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 97.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,243 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in AutoZone were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company's stock worth $31,293,100,000 after acquiring an additional 993,139 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company's stock worth $918,998,000 after acquiring an additional 179,543 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter worth about $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company's stock worth $479,338,000 after acquiring an additional 129,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2,714.8% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company's stock worth $356,267,000 after acquiring an additional 115,924 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AZO shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded AutoZone to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $3,025.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.9 %

AZO stock traded up $59.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $3,166.93. The company had a trading volume of 130,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,615. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,112.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,025.11. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,510.00 and a 12 month high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market cap of $53.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $46.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS 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.