Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $781,000 in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $781,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 37 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 18,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,030,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.9 %

AutoZone stock opened at $3,370.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,155.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,069.24. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,510.00 and a 12-month high of $3,416.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $32.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,360.47.

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.