Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 22 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lessened its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 30.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,936,535,000 after buying an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $834,556,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 89,190 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 77,015 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AutoZone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $189,483,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,634.00 to $3,763.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $4,072.24.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total transaction of $9,737,666.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,877.35. This trade represents a 85.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,696,515.78. The trade was a 76.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,662 shares of company stock valued at $131,999,089. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,606.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,694.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,532.18. The stock has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,801.49 and a 1 year high of $3,916.81.

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 firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.