Evercore ISI Cuts AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target to $4,400.00

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Evercore ISI from $4,500.00 to $4,400.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. DA Davidson set a $4,850.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AutoZone from $4,255.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,547.56.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,835.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $63.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.37. AutoZone has a 1 year low of $3,036.40 and a 1 year high of $4,388.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,993.94 and a 200-day moving average of $3,892.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted 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 company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $51.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

AutoZone announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total transaction of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55 shares in the company, valued at $221,148.40. The trade was a 97.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,194,570.80. This trade represents a 69.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,693 shares of company stock valued at $23,259,891 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AutoZone

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 8.3% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,179,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 98.3% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 829 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,161,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in AutoZone by 266.7% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Night Squared LP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at about $2,860,000. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 60.0% during the second quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 224 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

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.