Korea Investment CORP Increases Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 98.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,519 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of AutoZone worth $51,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 50,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,009 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,597.13, for a total value of $2,697,847.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 2,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,862 shares of company stock valued at $126,058,789. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $4,045.32 on Tuesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,898.57 and a 1-year high of $4,094.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,772.66 and a 200 day moving average of $3,675.33. The firm has a market cap of $67.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). The business 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $36.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4,000.00 price objective (up previously from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,101.29.

AutoZone Company 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.