AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Bought by SYM FINANCIAL Corp

SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 36.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.2% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 3.6% during the first quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.5% during the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 3.2% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,544.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares in the company, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,821.31 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,137.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,881.01. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,980.10 and a 52 week high of $4,388.11. The stock has a market cap of $64.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $51.58 earnings per share. AutoZone’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AutoZone 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.