AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Purchased by Marshfield Associates

Marshfield Associates lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 170,280 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 694 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up approximately 11.8% of Marshfield Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Marshfield Associates’ holdings in AutoZone were worth $545,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total value of $5,670,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AZO. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,606.04 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,591.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,362.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.