Foster & Motley Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.3 %

AZO stock opened at $3,355.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,252.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,160.68. The stock has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,672.31 and a 52-week high of $3,437.63.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $32.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on AutoZone in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Argus increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,560.00 to $3,678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,429.84.

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.