New York Life Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

New York Life Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,763 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,018 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $7,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Capital Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 27,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,630 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,506,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AZO. UBS Group increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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 raised their price target on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $2,962.09 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3,048.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,783.78.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $24.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

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.