YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 784 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AZO opened at $3,703.06 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,699.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,529.00. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,801.49 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market cap of $62.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced 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 company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $36.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. The trade was a 76.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,434.78. This trade represents a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,662 shares of company stock worth $139,599,109 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $4,000.00 price objective (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI set a $3,950.00 price target on AutoZone in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,700.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,072.24.

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.