JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AZO. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,966.76.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,829.63 on Friday. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,916.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,687.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,446.78. The company has a market capitalization of $64.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36% 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 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in AutoZone during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.