Avalon Trust Co Purchases Shares of 5,982 AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,207,000. AutoZone accounts for approximately 1.6% of Avalon Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 8 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,775.00, for a total transaction of $1,132,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,400. This represents a 41.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,693 shares of company stock worth $23,259,891 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZO. TD Cowen upped their target price on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.0%

AZO stock opened at $3,791.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4,026.36 and a 200 day moving average of $3,887.96. The firm has a market cap of $63.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.37. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,036.40 and a twelve month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $51.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.