AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Bought by May Hill Capital LLC

May Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 5.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 58 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,967,000 after buying an additional 13,643 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after buying an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,870,000 after buying an additional 24,701 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 3.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,709,000 after buying an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,929,000 after buying an additional 239,970 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,775.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,255.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,803.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,130.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,882.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,980.10 and a 52-week high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $51.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,148.40. This trade represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.