Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P Acquires New Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $567,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AZO. Truist Financial upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,753.00 to $3,841.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Argus cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,825.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,860.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,472.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,273.98.

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

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 403 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,682.24. The trade was a 25.23 % 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, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the 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 transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,721 shares of company stock worth $17,009,311 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.