Vident Advisory LLC Boosts Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,378 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 205.9% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 208 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in AutoZone by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 33 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,401.63. This trade represents a 92.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,940. This represents a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.0%

AZO stock opened at $3,879.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,671.82 and a 200 day moving average of $3,432.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AZO. Argus downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $3,837.82.

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.