Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 681 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 15.3% in the second quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 184.2% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 184.8% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 467 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter worth approximately $6,316,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 114.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,260.00 to $2,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,350.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. MKM Partners increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,350.00 to $2,650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,600.00 to $2,725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $1,950.00 to $2,360.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,597.88.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,441.21, for a total value of $336,886.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,188,714.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO William C. Rhodes III sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,479.29, for a total transaction of $2,975,148.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,421,302. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,441.21, for a total transaction of $336,886.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,188,714.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,286 shares of company stock valued at $22,691,045 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.59% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0 %

AZO opened at $2,341.56 on Wednesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,703.32 and a 1-year high of $2,610.05. The company has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,441.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,314.13.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 6th. The company reported $27.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $25.15 by $2.30. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.57% and a negative return on equity of 69.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $25.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 124.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone Company Profile

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AutoZone, Inc engages in the retail and distribution of automotive replacement parts and accessories. The firm offers ALLDATA, which produces, sells, and maintains diagnostic and repair information software used in the automotive repair industry and E-commerce, which includes direct sales to customers.