Machina Capital S.A.S. Has $662,000 Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rock Creek Group LP bought a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 4,190 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,845,512. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 4,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,161.68, for a total transaction of $13,247,439.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,845,512. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE AZO traded up $15.50 on Monday, reaching $2,967.70. The company had a trading volume of 116,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,810. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3,055.88 and its 200 day moving average is $2,791.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AZO. DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. UBS Group lifted 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho began coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,086.61.

AutoZone Company Profile

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.