AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3,086.61.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 232,194.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,963,000 after buying an additional 731,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth $678,350,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after purchasing an additional 176,623 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 341.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 159,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,582,000 after purchasing an additional 123,208 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 243,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,780,000 after purchasing an additional 58,989 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.1 %

AZO opened at $2,948.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,029.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,772.66.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $24.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

About AutoZone

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.