AutoZone’s (AZO) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $3,400.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on AutoZone from $3,505.00 to $3,420.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a buy rating and a $3,450.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $3,115.24.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $2,917.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,036.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,818.00. AutoZone has a 12 month low of $2,277.88 and a 12 month high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AutoZone will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoZone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 232,194.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,963,000 after buying an additional 731,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $678,350,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,379,000 after purchasing an additional 176,623 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 129,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in AutoZone by 341.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 159,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,582,000 after buying an additional 123,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

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.