Xponance Inc. Has $12.62 Million Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Xponance Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,942 shares of the company's stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in AutoZone were worth $12,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company's stock worth $1,326,545,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company's stock worth $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company's stock worth $683,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.5% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company's stock worth $534,204,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company's stock worth $522,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price target on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, DA Davidson raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Price Performance

AutoZone stock traded up $32.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3,605.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 208,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,390. The firm's 50 day moving average is $3,433.28 and its 200 day moving average is $3,258.73. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.