William Blair Comments on AutoZone, Inc.’s Q1 2023 Earnings (NYSE:AZO)

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) – Research analysts at William Blair decreased their Q1 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for AutoZone in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 25th. William Blair analyst D. Hofkin now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $28.14 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $28.93. William Blair also issued estimates for AutoZone’s Q2 2023 earnings at $23.30 EPS and Q3 2023 earnings at $30.19 EPS.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 24th. The company reported $29.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $25.70 by $3.33. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 109.21% and a net margin of 15.44%. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $26.48 earnings per share.

AZO has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,096.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 8th. Argus raised shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $2,210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on AutoZone from $2,210.00 to $2,250.00 in a report on Friday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,215.00 to $2,174.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $2,095.33.

Shares of AZO stock opened at $2,028.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.90. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $1,367.96 and a fifty-two week high of $2,267.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2,039.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,977.43.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in AutoZone by 2,480.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,055,000 after buying an additional 3,994 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 7.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Barings LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 108,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,100,000 after acquiring an additional 19,462 shares in the last quarter. 95.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In related news, EVP Philip B. Daniele sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,950.00, for a total transaction of $390,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Philip B. Daniele sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,900.00, for a total transaction of $190,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,682 shares of company stock valued at $16,146,334. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Company Profile (Get Rating)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers 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. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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