Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Invests $278,000 in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 73 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 0.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,516,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 7.0% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 2.9% in the first quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 18.1% in the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,072.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,762 shares of company stock valued at $147,189,762. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,634.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3,695.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,506.97. The firm has a market cap of $60.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,792.14 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $36.69 EPS. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.