Evercore ISI Lowers AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Price Target to $3,346.00

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.05% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on AZO. DA Davidson upped their target price on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,908.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,650. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,990.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,748.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,277.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $24.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 151.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 4,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,161.68, for a total transaction of $13,247,439.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,845,512. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,890 shares of company stock worth $58,216,693 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AutoZone

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AutoZone by 232,194.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,891,963,000 after purchasing an additional 731,413 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,500,000 after buying an additional 698,613 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 368.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 411,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,242,000 after acquiring an additional 323,536 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at about $658,788,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after acquiring an additional 176,623 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AutoZone

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.