AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.06% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AZO. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,320.50.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.4 %

AutoZone stock traded up $13.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $3,360.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 51,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,383. The firm has a market cap of $56.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,416.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,137.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,057.08.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $32.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AutoZone will post 155.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,293,100,000 after buying an additional 993,139 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter worth $424,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 2,714.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,267,000 after purchasing an additional 115,924 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 319.0% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,375,000 after buying an additional 27,580 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.