AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Short Interest Update

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) saw a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 363,400 shares, an increase of 9.0% from the December 31st total of 333,300 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 129,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,429.84.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $471,629,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in AutoZone by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after acquiring an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 542.8% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 62,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,032,000 after buying an additional 52,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,211,000 after acquiring an additional 42,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE AZO opened at $3,437.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3,263.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,167.44. AutoZone has a 12-month low of $2,672.31 and a 12-month high of $3,445.05. The company has a market capitalization of $57.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $32.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.