Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Makes New Investment in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 25.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,675.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,450.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,267.24. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43. The stock has a market cap of $61.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Equities analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,721 shares of company stock worth $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

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.