Richard Craig Smith Sells 2,850 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Stock

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,605.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3,433.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,258.73. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued 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 net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $7,931,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,088,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 630.1% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Argus cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.