AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Sold by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. trimmed its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $10,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 98.3% in the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,161,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 19.3% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,127,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in AutoZone by 266.7% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Night Squared LP purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,860,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 14 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AZO. Zacks Research cut AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,850.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. 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. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,801.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,141.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,876.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,980.10 and a 1 year high of $4,388.11.

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

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.