Manchester Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17 shares during the quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,326,545,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after buying an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its position in AutoZone by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,204,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $471,629,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,560.00 to $3,678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,461.94 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3,312.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,194.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,680.96 and a 1-year high of $3,484.42.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $32.55 earnings per share. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.