AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Purchased by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 387.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 507 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 94 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 580.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the period. Freemont Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AZO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,400.00 to $4,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,550.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $4,076.00 to $4,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,800.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,312.13.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Director Earl G. Graves, Jr. sold 50 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,478.72, for a total transaction of $173,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,826,568.64. The trade was a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AZO opened at $3,318.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,492.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,597.74. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,210.72 and a 12-month high of $4,388.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $27.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $27.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 12.47% and a negative return on equity of 72.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $28.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 148.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AutoZone

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.