Legal & General Group Plc Sells 31,451 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,451 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $345,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in AutoZone by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in AutoZone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,500.11 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,540.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,312.81. The stock has a market cap of $58.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,728.97 and a 12 month high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. Analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares in the company, valued at $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,430,682.24. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AZO shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,724.00.

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.