Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 735 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. CWM LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.9% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alcosta Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alcosta Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $2,985.55 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,005.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,757.38. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The firm has a market cap of $51.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $24.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,086.61.

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.