Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 49,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,500 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $157,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have issued 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 $3,724.00.

AutoZone Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,479.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,533.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,308.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331 in the last three months. 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.