Phoenix Financial Ltd. Purchases Shares of 67 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 67 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 13 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 14 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,819.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3,711.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,597.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,898.57 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The stock has a market cap of $64.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.39.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $37.07 by ($1.71). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.07% and a net margin of 13.56%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $36.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total transaction of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,460,434.78. The trade was a 64.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,728.05, for a total value of $9,737,666.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on AutoZone from $4,025.00 to $4,260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 target price on AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Roth Capital set a $4,135.00 target price on AutoZone and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $4,000.00 price target (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,087.00.

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.