JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target to $4,300.00

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its target price increased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $4,100.00 to $4,300.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 18.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AZO. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,555.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $3,550.00 target price (down from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of AutoZone from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,811.00 to $4,268.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,600.00 to $4,150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,279.58.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:AZO traded down $29.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3,641.96. The stock had a trading volume of 10,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,538. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,582.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,834.94. The company has a market capitalization of $60.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $3,210.72 and a twelve month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $31.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $32.69 by ($1.65). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 65.38% and a net margin of 12.78%.The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $32.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, Director Brian Hannasch purchased 147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3,393.09 per share, for a total transaction of $498,784.23. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 962 shares in the company, valued at $3,264,152.58. The trade was a 18.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 5,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $21,867,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,719,900. This represents a 69.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 347 shares of company stock valued at $1,179,256 and have sold 9,447 shares valued at $34,179,923. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,797,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,711,912,000 after buying an additional 26,544 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 371,123.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 935,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,472,724,000 after acquiring an additional 935,230 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in AutoZone by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 714,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,650,870,000 after purchasing an additional 11,088 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in AutoZone by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 492,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,323,000 after purchasing an additional 74,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 444,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,649,228,000 after purchasing an additional 8,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.