Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 27 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 271 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in AutoZone by 1.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after buying an additional 6,226 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,998,000 after buying an additional 179,543 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in AutoZone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 150,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,684,000 after buying an additional 3,382 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the second quarter worth approximately $424,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.4 %

AZO stock opened at $3,188.94 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,115.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,032.95. The stock has a market cap of $53.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,510.00 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $46.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

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.