201 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Bought by Polaris Financial Partners

Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the second quarter worth $3,938,566,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 261,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,246,000 after purchasing an additional 6,765 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 247,417.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 249,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,963,000 after buying an additional 249,892 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $572,885,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 11,577.6% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 141,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,838,000 after acquiring an additional 139,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $3,400.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,637.00 to $3,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AutoZone from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $3,500.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,710.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP Dennis LeRiche sold 1,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,100.00, for a total value of $4,510,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,367,100. This represents a 76.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO traded down $20.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2,798.29. 169,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,111. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,756.13 and a 1 year high of $4,252.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2,967.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,165.18.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 22nd. The company reported $56.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $55.51. AutoZone had a net margin of 12.65% and a negative return on equity of 90.08%. The company had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $48.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 172.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About AutoZone

AutoZone, Inc is a specialty retailer of automotive replacement parts, accessories and maintenance products. The company serves do-it-yourself customers as well as professional automotive repair shops, offering products such as batteries, brakes, filters, engine components, tools, fluids and other vehicle parts.

In addition to its retail stores, AutoZone provides commercial sales and delivery services for professional repair businesses. The company also operates ALLDATA, which offers automotive diagnostic, repair and shop-management software and information services to repair professionals.

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, AutoZone operates primarily in the United States, with additional stores and operations in Mexico and Brazil.