Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires New Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,506,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $834,556,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $683,867,000 after buying an additional 13,771 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $534,204,000 after acquiring an additional 796 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, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the 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 transaction of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company's stock, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total value of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $619,401.63. The trade was a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus lowered AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO traded up $27.44 on Friday, reaching $3,642.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 48,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,994. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81. The business's 50 day moving average is $3,552.65 and its 200 day moving average is $3,322.06. The stock has a market cap of $61.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54.

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