abrdn plc Raises Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

abrdn plc increased its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 64.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,390 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $19,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 27,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,458,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 42,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Wedbush raised their price target on AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AZO opened at $2,988.51 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,020.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $2,768.74. The company has a market capitalization of $51.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $24.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone 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.