AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,936,535,000 after acquiring an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $834,556,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 6,083.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 90,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,281,000 after acquiring an additional 89,190 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of AutoZone by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,033,000 after acquiring an additional 77,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at about $189,483,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,100.00 price target (up from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on AutoZone in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4,072.24.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,606.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,694.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,532.18. 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 capitalization of $60.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $36.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,940. The trade was a 96.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total value of $101,995,575.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 8,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. This trade represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,662 shares of company stock valued at $131,999,089. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About AutoZone

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.