Colonial Trust Co SC Has $197,000 Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after buying an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth $834,556,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter valued at $471,629,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 6,083.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 90,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,281,000 after acquiring an additional 89,190 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,033,000 after purchasing an additional 77,015 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $3,821.91.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO opened at $3,674.75 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,728.97 and a 52-week high of $3,916.81. The firm has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3,646.08 and its 200-day moving average is $3,394.93.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. On average, research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. The trade was a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,521 shares of company stock worth $42,177,331. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.