TruNorth Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

TruNorth Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 59.5% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 343 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,000.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,538.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,244 shares in the company, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $4,244.71 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,980.10 and a 12-month high of $4,388.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,109.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,832.21.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $51.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone 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.