Principal Securities Inc. Purchases New Shares in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rock Creek Group LP acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the third quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 4,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,161.68, for a total value of $13,247,439.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,845,512. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 4,190 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,161.68, for a total transaction of $13,247,439.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,845,512. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZO. Citigroup decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,505.00 to $3,420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,108.83.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO opened at $2,921.44 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,051.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,810.13. 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 capitalization of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72.

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

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.