AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AZO. DA Davidson lifted their price target on AutoZone from $2,425.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $2,750.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,835.00 to $2,750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $2,975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,740.00 to $2,750.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,793.95.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $2,627.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.65. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,277.88 and a fifty-two week high of $2,750.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2,557.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,524.21.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 19th. The company reported $46.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.51 by $1.95. The business had revenue of $5.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.48% and a negative return on equity of 60.66%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $40.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 147.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total transaction of $305,763.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,492.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, SVP Preston Frazer sold 6,754 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,476.97, for a total value of $16,729,455.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,171.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total value of $305,763.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,492.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,069 shares of company stock worth $30,651,562 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 5,037.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,392,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,781 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,500,000 after acquiring an additional 698,613 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 250,309.8% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 535,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 535,663 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 368.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 411,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,242,000 after acquiring an additional 323,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $658,788,000. Institutional investors own 90.34% of the company’s stock.

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.