Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,729 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $27,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 25.0% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,680.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3,460.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,270.12. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,704.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,721 shares of company stock worth $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

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.