LPL Financial LLC Grows Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,869 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.07% of AutoZone worth $38,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $852,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,728,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in AutoZone by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,655,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,769.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $63.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3,483.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,278.52. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,838.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,430,682.24. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331. Company 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.