Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Invests $151.60 Million in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 40,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,595,000. AutoZone accounts for about 0.8% of Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,967,000 after buying an additional 13,643 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 65,368 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 444,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,649,228,000 after acquiring an additional 8,187 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.6% in the first 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. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 3.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,709,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,750.00 price objective (down from $4,800.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,551.56.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,854.18 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $64.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,010.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,891.33. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,036.40 and a 52 week high of $4,388.11.

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

AutoZone announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 55 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,148.40. The trade was a 97.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,693 shares of company stock valued at $23,259,891. Insiders own 2.60% 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.