AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Sold by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 624 shares during the quarter. AutoZone makes up approximately 2.4% of First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 1.54% of AutoZone worth $829,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in AutoZone by 750.0% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 17 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,682.24. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,674.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,646.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,394.93. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Argus lowered shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,821.91.

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.