Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 651 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,476 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $21,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 4,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,315,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 7.8% in the third quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,145,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in AutoZone by 132.8% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 1,199.3% in the third quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,525,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the third quarter worth $678,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,700.00 to $4,500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research lowered AutoZone from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,800.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4,325.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,312.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 5,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $21,867,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,719,900. This trade represents a 69.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Earl G. Graves, Jr. sold 250 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,295.00, for a total transaction of $823,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,102,665. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,447 shares of company stock valued at $34,179,923 over the last quarter. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,315.90 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3,643.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,743.30. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,210.72 and a 1 year high of $4,388.11. The company has a market cap of $54.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.41.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $27.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $27.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 72.31% and a net margin of 12.47%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $28.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone Profile

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.