AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Short Interest Up 6.7% in September

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 465,500 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 436,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 119,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,613,046.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $284,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $1,029,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $879,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock traded up $29.16 on Wednesday, hitting $3,129.16. 133,634 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 140,499. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,131.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,006.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone has a 1 year low of $2,375.35 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $46.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AutoZone will post 157.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.