AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rock Creek Group LP purchased a new position in AutoZone in the third quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $2,963.27 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,010.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,764.30. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $24.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,756,456.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AutoZone

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.