Savvy Advisors Inc. Purchases 15 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 78 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,759,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,967,000 after purchasing an additional 13,643 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 936,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,296,000 after buying an additional 65,368 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 349,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,870,000 after buying an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,709,000 after buying an additional 10,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in AutoZone by 7,358.8% in the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 243,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,929,000 after buying an additional 239,970 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $4,741.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,775.00, for a total value of $1,132,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,400. The trade was a 41.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,693 shares of company stock worth $23,259,891. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,674.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4,104.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,885.30. The stock has a market cap of $61.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,980.10 and a 52-week high of $4,388.11.

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

AutoZone declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.