Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 5,819 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,951 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,819 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.30% of AutoZone worth $194,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $214,000. ICONIQ Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 213.0% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,412,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. This trade represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,877.35. This represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZO. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,060.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,100.00 price target (up previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4,000.00 price target (up previously from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4,101.29.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:AZO opened at $4,104.35 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,809.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,694.02. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,898.57 and a 12 month high of $4,187.39. The stock has a market cap of $68.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%.The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $36.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.