Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,701 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 232,194.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,963,000 after buying an additional 731,413 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,724,500,000 after buying an additional 698,613 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,572,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,379,000 after buying an additional 176,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $658,788,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, 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 value of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $2,985.55 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3,005.06 and its 200 day moving average is $2,757.38. The firm has a market cap of $51.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $24.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone 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.