Dennis W. Leriche Sells 1,575 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Stock

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total value of $5,670,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

AutoZone Stock Down 3.5 %

AZO stock traded down $128.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,561.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 208,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,408. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,375.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,233.66. The stock has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,704.43.

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

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 18.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,455,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,460,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 592.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,012,000 after acquiring an additional 7,879 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZO. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,651.91.

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.