DSG Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $7.93 Million Investment in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,931,000. AutoZone makes up 1.4% of DSG Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in AutoZone by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,647,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,033,000 after buying an additional 77,015 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AutoZone by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 66,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,383,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 73,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,718,000 after acquiring an additional 21,266 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,521 shares of company stock valued at $42,177,331 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson set a $4,192.00 price objective on AutoZone in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $3,900.00 to $4,800.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $3,966.76.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,686.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,694.38 and a 200 day moving average of $3,457.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $36.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.