LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 17.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 894 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,929,000 after buying an additional 239,970 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter worth about $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,296,000 after buying an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 349.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 74,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,190,000 after buying an additional 57,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 106,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,540,000 after buying an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4,750.00 price target (down from $4,800.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,538.21.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $4,219.73 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,980.10 and a 52-week high of $4,388.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,126.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,840.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $51.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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.