Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Trims Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.46% of AutoZone worth $245,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Square LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in AutoZone by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,169,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Advisory Research Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 632 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in AutoZone by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 20,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,471,000 after purchasing an additional 11,447 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZO. Barclays boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,574.54 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,728.97 and a 12-month high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,567.00 and a 200 day moving average of $3,333.97.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total value of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.