AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

AZO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,027.00 to $3,363.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price target on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Raymond James raised shares of AutoZone from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $2,850.00 to $3,100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,080.72.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,152.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,912.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,699.29. AutoZone has a 12 month low of $2,277.88 and a 12 month high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $24.64 earnings per share. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 151.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Grant E. Mcgee sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,654.14, for a total transaction of $1,839,319.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,189.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,797 shares of company stock valued at $81,010,974. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.4% in the second quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in AutoZone by 4.7% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 76,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in AutoZone by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 51,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,055,000 after purchasing an additional 34,092 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Company Profile

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.