Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates lifted its stake in AutoZone by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,204,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $471,629,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZO. Citigroup raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,366.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,708.09 and a one year high of $3,484.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,321.62 and its 200-day moving average is $3,206.92.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $32.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AutoZone

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.