PDS Planning Inc Sells 7 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

PDS Planning Inc trimmed its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rock Creek Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO stock traded up $13.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2,974.97. The company had a trading volume of 23,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,859. The company has a market capitalization of $51.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,010.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,764.30. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,277.88 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $24.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,086.61.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.