Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4,484.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,185 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,592 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $100,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,929,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after acquiring an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 349.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 74,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,190,000 after acquiring an additional 57,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 106,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,540,000 after acquiring an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $4,020.44 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,980.10 and a 12-month high of $4,388.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,141.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,851.18.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $51.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AZO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on AutoZone from $4,504.00 to $4,499.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,544.68.

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.