AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Acquired by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 319 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 809,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,017,410,000 after purchasing an additional 11,438 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,500,000 after buying an additional 698,613 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,572,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after buying an additional 176,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth about $658,788,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AZO shares. Stephens lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Wedbush lifted their target price on AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James upgraded AutoZone from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $2,850.00 to $3,100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,080.72.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AZO traded down $33.14 on Thursday, hitting $3,159.65. 130,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 160,658. The stock has a market cap of $54.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,277.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2,902.37 and a 200-day moving average of $2,695.82.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $24.64 earnings per share. AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 151.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,654.14, for a total transaction of $1,839,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 251 shares in the company, valued at $666,189.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,797 shares of company stock worth $81,010,974 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.