Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 77 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 171.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth about $447,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,371,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total value of $5,670,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,605.88 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,704.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,433.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,259.40. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.