AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $3,821.91.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,674.75 on Tuesday. AutoZone has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3,646.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,394.93.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. On average, research analysts predict that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,682.24. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Headland Capital LLC lifted its position in AutoZone by 8.0% during the first quarter. Headland Capital LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 843.6% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,016,000 after acquiring an additional 3,990 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in AutoZone by 1.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,675,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 18.8% in the first quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC now owns 9,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides 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.