Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 223 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 16.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 224 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 4.3% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 14.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 32 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 4.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 101 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.6% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,099.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,510.00 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,111.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,029.01.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $46.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone 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.