Wambolt & Associates LLC Has $332,000 Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 87 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in AutoZone by 14.7% in the first quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Accuvest Global Advisors acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $1,163,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 111,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,051,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,560,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at $11,337,007.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 2,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 have sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AZO shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,192.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial set a $3,995.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $3,811.00 target price on AutoZone in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,087.00.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $4,059.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $68.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3,731.07 and its 200 day moving average is $3,637.60. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,898.57 and a 52 week high of $4,094.69.

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). The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.56% and a negative return on equity of 56.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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.