AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lowered its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,055 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. This trade represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,662 shares of company stock worth $131,999,089 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.9%

AZO opened at $3,648.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,894.02 and a 12 month high of $3,916.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3,701.06 and a 200 day moving average of $3,573.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AZO shares. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price target on shares of AutoZone and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,087.00.

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.