Element Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,825,000. AutoZone accounts for about 0.7% of Element Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 3.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in AutoZone by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,647,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in AutoZone by 10.1% in the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN increased its holdings in AutoZone by 0.9% in the first quarter. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN now owns 7,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,591,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,087.00.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 406 shares in the company, valued at $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,877.35. This trade represents a 85.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,862 shares of company stock worth $126,058,789 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $3,996.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.38. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,898.57 and a one year high of $4,094.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3,759.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,661.16.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $36.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AutoZone

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.