Qsemble Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 79 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 79 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,816,000. Verde Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,137,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 592.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,012,000 after buying an additional 7,879 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,979,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,044,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $3,634.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AutoZone Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,188.94 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,510.00 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,115.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,032.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $46.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AutoZone

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.