LRI Investments LLC Sells 15 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

LRI Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 46.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,967,000 after buying an additional 13,643 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AutoZone by 7.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,296,000 after purchasing an additional 65,368 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in AutoZone by 7.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,870,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in AutoZone by 3.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,709,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,929,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.5%

AutoZone stock opened at $4,094.61 on Tuesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,980.10 and a 52 week high of $4,388.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,152.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,859.75. The stock has a market cap of $68.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $51.58 earnings per share. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,250.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,925.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

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.