Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,748 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,916 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.22% of AutoZone worth $655,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in AutoZone by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,619.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,728.97 and a 12-month high of $3,916.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,595.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,365.80.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $3,724.00.

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.