Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,841.00 to $3,995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,837.82.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,877.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $65.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,664.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,429.72. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total value of $7,600,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoZone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,967,000 after purchasing an additional 13,643 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,296,000 after purchasing an additional 65,368 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,936,535,000 after purchasing an additional 770,005 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after acquiring an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,870,000 after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.