Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stake in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the first 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 purchasing an additional 65,368 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 57,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4,484.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,917,000 after purchasing an additional 26,592 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on AutoZone from $4,155.00 to $4,811.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE AZO opened at $4,006.67 on Wednesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,980.10 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4,149.72 and a 200-day moving average of $3,868.90. The firm has a market cap of $67.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $51.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,393 shares of company stock valued at $33,755,091 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Company 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.