Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 138 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 232,194.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,963,000 after acquiring an additional 731,413 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,379,000 after purchasing an additional 176,623 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 4.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 259,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,309,000 after purchasing an additional 11,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in AutoZone by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $2,952.20 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,051.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,788.27. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,277.88 and a one year high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZO. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho began coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.