AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,375.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho assumed coverage on AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, TheStreet lowered AutoZone from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,089.61.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,006.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2,985.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,740.95. AutoZone has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone will post 151.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,654.14, for a total value of $1,839,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,189.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 693 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,654.14, for a total transaction of $1,839,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,189.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,583 shares of company stock valued at $60,056,012. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 232,194.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,891,963,000 after buying an additional 731,413 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 107,977.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,500,000 after buying an additional 698,613 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,572,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after buying an additional 176,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 328,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,563,000 after buying an additional 29,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Company Profile

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.