Insider Selling: AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) CEO Sells 29,511 Shares of Stock

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) CEO William C. Rhodes III sold 29,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,427.27, for a total value of $71,631,164.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,984,277.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

AutoZone Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $2,365.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2,452.02 and its 200 day moving average is $2,384.69. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,703.32 and a 12 month high of $2,610.05.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $24.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $21.33 by $3.31. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.32% and a negative return on equity of 64.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $22.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 127.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 11 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Belmont Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 91.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZO. DA Davidson increased their price target on AutoZone from $1,950.00 to $2,360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on AutoZone from $2,600.00 to $2,650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on AutoZone from $2,520.00 to $2,782.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Guggenheim raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $2,735.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AutoZone from $2,725.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,652.76.

About AutoZone

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AutoZone, Inc engages in the retail and distribution of automotive replacement parts and accessories. The firm offers ALLDATA, which produces, sells, and maintains diagnostic and repair information software used in the automotive repair industry and E-commerce, which includes direct sales to customers.