KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 25 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in AutoZone by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in AutoZone by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in AutoZone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price 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, Argus downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AutoZone stock opened at $3,654.02 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,531.36 and a 200-day moving average of $3,303.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.