Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO)

Morgan Stanley restated their overweight rating on shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $4,000.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $3,750.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AZO. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $4,200.00 price objective on AutoZone and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,054.52.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,736.21 on Wednesday. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,916.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,698.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,466.57. The company has a market capitalization of $62.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $36.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $619,401.63. This represents a 92.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.