Axa S.A. Decreases Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Axa S.A. decreased its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,717 shares of the company’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $11,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,117,000 after buying an additional 419,375 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $834,556,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $471,629,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 6,083.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 90,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,281,000 after purchasing an additional 89,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,033,000 after purchasing an additional 77,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE AZO opened at $3,775.42 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,630.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,386.83. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market cap of $63.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,940. This trade represents a 96.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AZO. StockNews.com upgraded AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upgraded AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $3,814.91.

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.