Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,136 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.45% of AutoZone worth $243,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 25.0% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $3,724.00.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AutoZone
AutoZone Price Performance
AutoZone stock traded up $16.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3,825.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 181,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 131,362. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,524.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,297.98. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,728.97 and a 1-year high of $3,900.24. The company has a market cap of $64.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $619,401.63. The trade was a 92.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
AutoZone Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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