Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 219.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,319 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AutoZone were worth $90,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7,358.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the first quarter worth approximately $442,530,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,296,000 after buying an additional 65,368 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in AutoZone by 349.5% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 74,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,190,000 after buying an additional 57,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 4,484.3% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,917,000 after buying an additional 26,592 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total transaction of $11,942,502.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55 shares in the company, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,740.00 to $4,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,750.00 price objective (down previously from $4,800.00) on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,801.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $63.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,141.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,879.18. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,980.10 and a 12-month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $51.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.