Insider Selling: AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Sells 2,850 Shares of Stock

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. The trade was a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE AZO traded up $32.50 on Friday, hitting $3,605.88. 208,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 126,345. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,426.29 and a 200-day moving average of $3,254.98. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,728.97 and a 12 month high of $3,704.43. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AZO shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,931,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,088,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 630.1% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

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.