Bellwether Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in AutoZone by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % 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 Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,940. This represents a 96.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.1 %

AZO opened at $3,606.04 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,591.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,362.38. The firm has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AZO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,724.00.

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.