AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith Sells 2,850 Shares

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,555,640. The trade was a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE:AZO traded up $32.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,605.88. The stock had a trading volume of 208,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,345. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,728.97 and a one year high of $3,704.43. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,426.29 and its 200-day moving average is $3,254.98.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoZone

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,544,000 after acquiring an additional 60,483 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in AutoZone by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim boosted their price target 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. Argus lowered shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,683.36.

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.