Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 4,654 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,176 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,654 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $268,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after buying an additional 6,898 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 29.5% in the fourth 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 increased its position in AutoZone by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in AutoZone by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,769.72 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,838.00. The company has a market cap of $63.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,483.80 and its 200 day moving average is $3,279.56.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. Sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This trade represents a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.