Patten Group Inc. Has $1.27 Million Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Patten Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 341 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,967,000 after purchasing an additional 13,643 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after acquiring an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in AutoZone by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,870,000 after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,709,000 after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,929,000 after acquiring an additional 239,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on AutoZone from $4,255.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,775.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,544.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55 shares in the company, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,393 shares of company stock worth $33,755,091 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0%

AZO stock opened at $4,006.67 on Wednesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,980.10 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11. The firm has a market cap of $67.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4,149.72 and its 200-day moving average is $3,868.90.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $51.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

AutoZone announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.