Plancorp LLC Buys 6 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Plancorp LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 150 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 18.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in AutoZone by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,683.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,605.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,433.28 and a 200-day moving average of $3,258.73. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,728.97 and a 1-year high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.