Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 336 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in AutoZone during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AZO shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas raised AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,025.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,190.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,256.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,118.05 and a 200 day moving average of $3,034.04.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $46.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.