AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $55,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in AutoZone by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,393 shares of company stock valued at $33,755,091 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

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

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $51.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AutoZone Company 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.