First Trust Advisors LP Sells 1,315 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,315 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $18,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 368.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 411,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,242,000 after acquiring an additional 323,536 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in AutoZone by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 141,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,731,000 after buying an additional 28,025 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,994,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in AutoZone by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 33,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,365,000 after buying an additional 12,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 46,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,711,000 after buying an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. 91.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,573.04, for a total value of $3,653,716.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,420 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,573.04, for a total value of $3,653,716.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Preston Frazer sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,523.07, for a total value of $4,364,911.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,386,824.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,960 shares of company stock valued at $90,128,092. Corporate insiders own 2.59% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AZO opened at $2,653.18 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $2,570.06 and its 200 day moving average is $2,498.97. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,703.32 and a 12 month high of $2,750.00. The stock has a market cap of $48.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $24.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $22.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 127.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AutoZone in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AutoZone from $2,850.00 to $3,000.00 in a research report on Monday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AutoZone from $2,750.00 to $2,975.00 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on AutoZone from $2,650.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,712.06.

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.