Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 55 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush boosted their target price on AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO stock traded up $12.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2,985.54. 114,397 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 124,587. The company has a market cap of $51.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,005.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,757.38. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,277.88 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.