AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Bought by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 131,240 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,818 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $487,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 75,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 7.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,308,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 3.8% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 3.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,701,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 36.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 153,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,329,000 after acquiring an additional 40,862 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,838.84 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3,919.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,905.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,162.00 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $51.58 earnings per share. AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AZO shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,900.00 to $4,775.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson set a $4,850.00 price target on AutoZone in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $4,750.00 price objective (down from $4,800.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,500.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,545.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 300 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,775.00, for a total transaction of $1,132,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,400. The trade was a 41.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,693 shares of company stock worth $23,259,891. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.