AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target Raised to $3,600.00

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Mizuho from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.60% from the company’s current price.

AZO has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,339.25.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,345.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization 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 has a 52-week low of $2,510.00 and a 52-week high of $3,416.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,142.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,059.09.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $32.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 155.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,613,046.40. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 39.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in AutoZone by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,979,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $334,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,666,000 after purchasing an additional 14,050 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently 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.