Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $755,000 Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in AutoZone by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,634.34 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,792.14 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,695.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,506.97. The company has a market capitalization of $60.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $36.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,072.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total value of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,401.63. The trade was a 92.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,762 shares of company stock worth $147,189,762 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.