AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith Sells 2,850 Shares

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. The trade was a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,605.88 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,433.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,258.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,728.97 and a one year high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,544,000 after acquiring an additional 60,483 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,460,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

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.