AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Holdings Lifted by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,267 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $22,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after buying an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after buying an additional 129,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 2,714.8% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,267,000 after purchasing an additional 115,924 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AZO. BNP Paribas upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,107.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,510.00 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,112.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,023.33.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $46.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% 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.