AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Purchased by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 375 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rock Creek Group LP purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 66.7% during the third quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total transaction of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,756,456.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO traded up $22.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $2,983.12. The company had a trading volume of 66,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,441. The company has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,014.93 and a 200-day moving average of $2,767.20. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,277.88 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.64 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZO. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush upped 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

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.