Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,723 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $18,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $471,629,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in AutoZone by 186.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in AutoZone by 542.8% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 62,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,032,000 after purchasing an additional 52,753 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $85,127,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,560.00 to $3,678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,366.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,708.09 and a twelve month high of $3,484.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,321.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,206.92.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $32.55 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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.