Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Reduces Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP decreased its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 209 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 27,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,630 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,506,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,398,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

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 stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:AZO traded up $27.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $2,988.51. 103,672 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,312. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,014.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,767.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,277.88 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $24.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,086.61.

About AutoZone

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.