Baxter Bros Inc. Decreases Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,269,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 205.9% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 119 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.3 %

AZO traded down $9.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2,952.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 102,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,291. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,277.88 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3,048.03 and its 200-day moving average is $2,783.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of AutoZone in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price for the company. Five equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone 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.