Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 6 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 232,194.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,891,963,000 after purchasing an additional 731,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $678,350,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after purchasing an additional 176,623 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 341.5% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 159,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,582,000 after buying an additional 123,208 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 243,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,780,000 after buying an additional 58,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,086.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the 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 owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AutoZone stock traded up $0.73 on Friday, hitting $2,945.98. 115,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 128,387. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,029.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,772.66. The company has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,277.88 and a 12-month high of $3,256.37.

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

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.