Guggenheim Issues Positive Forecast for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,025.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,339.25.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,345.71 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3,142.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,059.09. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,416.71. The stock has a market cap of $56.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $32.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 155.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This represents a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AZO. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,898 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 44.9% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 38.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,755,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $781,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.