E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 27 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 27 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 128.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,703.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,699.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,529.00. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,801.49 and a one year high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $36.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the business’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 value of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,662 shares of company stock valued at $139,599,109 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4,000.00 price target (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $4,100.00 price objective (up previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4,072.24.

AutoZone 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.