Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $1.09 Million Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 422 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 232,194.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,963,000 after purchasing an additional 731,413 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in AutoZone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after acquiring an additional 176,623 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 259,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,309,000 after acquiring an additional 11,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total transaction of $8,993,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $2,945.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,029.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2,774.03.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $24.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho started coverage on AutoZone in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,086.61.

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.