California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 2,156 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,156 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.46% of AutoZone worth $246,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth about $834,556,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,204,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $3,769.72 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,728.97 and a one year high of $3,838.00. The firm 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,483.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,280.69.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.