Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 260 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $239,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 41,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,459,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth about $208,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in AutoZone by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.8 %

AZO opened at $3,137.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,112.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,022.53. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,510.00 and a 12-month high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $46.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.