AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Acquired by Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rock Creek Group LP bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded down $38.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2,959.92. The stock had a trading volume of 100,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,795. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,277.88 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,034.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,778.53.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $24.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total transaction of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares in the company, valued at $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total transaction of $8,993,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,756,456.96. 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 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.