MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 170 AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in AutoZone by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,741.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4,750.00 target price (down from $4,800.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,801.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $63.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,141.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,876.96. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,980.10 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11.

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

AutoZone announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.