HM Payson & Co. Cuts Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

HM Payson & Co. cut its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,121 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,501 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up approximately 1.2% of HM Payson & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. HM Payson & Co. owned about 0.13% of AutoZone worth $69,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in AutoZone by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after acquiring an additional 6,226 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $918,998,000 after purchasing an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 203,072 shares of the company's stock worth $643,641,000 after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,338,000 after buying an additional 129,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AZO traded down $8.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3,009.00. 147,134 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,758. The firm's 50 day moving average is $3,125.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,011.68. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,463.45 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $46.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 157.99 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $3,634.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,202.71.

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.