PineStone Asset Management Inc. Has $1.05 Billion Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 281,693 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,456 shares during the period. AutoZone makes up about 6.8% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,045,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 770,005 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,929,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the first quarter valued at $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in AutoZone by 7.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after purchasing an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 30.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 106,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,540,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AZO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AutoZone from $4,200.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $4,538.21.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $4,131.49 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,980.10 and a 52 week high of $4,388.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,069.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,812.91.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $51.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total value of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,337,007.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.