Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 70.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,042 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $11,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in AutoZone by 50.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZO. StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,384.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % 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. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.5 %

AutoZone stock opened at $3,353.67 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,161.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,073.34. The stock has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,510.00 and a 12-month high of $3,416.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the firm earned $32.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.