AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target Raised to $3,800.00 at TD Cowen

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective increased by research analysts at TD Cowen from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.86% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on AZO. Citigroup raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Capital upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,384.89.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.1 %

AZO stock traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $3,366.93. 30,162 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,043. AutoZone has a 52-week low of $2,510.00 and a 52-week high of $3,416.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,155.07 and its 200-day moving average is $3,069.24. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $32.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was 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 owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoZone

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after buying an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates raised its holdings in AutoZone by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,204,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 150,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,382 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $424,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.