Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Has $4.08 Million Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up approximately 2.1% of Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,929,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 7.5% during the 1st 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. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 349.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 74,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,190,000 after purchasing an additional 57,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 4,484.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,917,000 after purchasing an additional 26,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.3%

AZO opened at $3,801.30 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,980.10 and a twelve month high of $4,388.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,141.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,876.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $51.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZO. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,544.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.