Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases 792 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,417 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $38,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $868,000. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,618,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,357,000. Finally, Arrowroot Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowroot Family Office LLC now owns 59 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,138.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,383.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,528.08. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,928.11 and a twelve month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 26th. The company reported $38.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $36.22 by $1.85. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 12.40% and a negative return on equity of 80.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $35.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 150.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Truist Financial set a $3,700.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,345.00 to $4,096.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $3,700.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,800.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,040.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, Director Brian Hannasch acquired 165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2,987.00 per share, with a total value of $492,855.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,641,153. This represents a 15.65% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Earl G. Graves, Jr. sold 50 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,478.72, for a total value of $173,936.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,826,568.64. This represents a 1.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.