AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $3,811.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $3,044.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,821.72 on Tuesday. AutoZone has a 12-month low of $2,728.97 and a 12-month high of $3,842.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,495.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,285.75. The company has a market cap of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,682.24. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 270.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in AutoZone by 104.1% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 374.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $570,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

About AutoZone

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.