Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Has $1.30 Million Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC cut its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,967,000 after acquiring an additional 13,643 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after purchasing an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,936,535,000 after purchasing an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 324,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,421,000 after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in AutoZone by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 204,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,840,000 after purchasing an additional 26,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price target on AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price target on AutoZone and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,060.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,100.00 target price (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,101.29.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AZO opened at $4,157.9960 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,898.57 and a 12 month high of $4,187.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,791.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,681.78. The company has a market capitalization of $69.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 427 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,877.35. The trade was a 85.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,460,434.78. This represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.