Wedmont Private Capital Grows Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 136 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,521,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,259,055,000 after buying an additional 10,791 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in AutoZone by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 466,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $998,521,000 after buying an additional 11,713 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in AutoZone by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 141,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,731,000 after buying an additional 28,025 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 106,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,082,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 93,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,746,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares during the last quarter. 91.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AZO shares. Bank of America cut AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AutoZone from $2,450.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on AutoZone from $1,950.00 to $2,360.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on AutoZone from $2,800.00 to $2,878.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,652.76.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,400.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,400.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $585,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William C. Rhodes III sold 1,200 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,479.29, for a total value of $2,975,148.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,800 shares in the company, valued at $9,421,302. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,872 shares of company stock valued at $94,603,027. 2.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $2,365.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $2,452.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,386.42. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,703.32 and a 12 month high of $2,610.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.69.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $24.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $21.33 by $3.31. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 64.72% and a net margin of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $22.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 127.64 EPS for the current year.

AutoZone Profile

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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.