PDS Planning Inc Sells 7 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

PDS Planning Inc decreased its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 5.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 65.6% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AutoZone by 15.2% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 38 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 74.8% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE AZO traded up $13.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,974.97. 23,371 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 153,859. The company has a market capitalization of $51.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,010.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,764.30. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,277.88 and a 12-month high of $3,256.37.

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 the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AZO. DA Davidson upped their price target on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price target on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush upped their price target on AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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 equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

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.