Centiva Capital LP Invests $570,000 in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Capital upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,232.88.

AutoZone Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,309.44 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,130.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,047.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,313.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion during 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%. AutoZone’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $46.46 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 155.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 value of $922,560.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.