Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Invests $41,000 in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,967,000 after buying an additional 13,643 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,870,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,709,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,929,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This trade represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,775.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $4,094.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $68.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,152.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,859.75. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,980.10 and a 12 month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $51.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.