9,499 AutoZone, Inc. $AZO Shares Purchased by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 7,142.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,499 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $27,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,938,566,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 646,568.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 659,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,866,687,000 after purchasing an additional 659,500 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 261,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,246,000 after purchasing an additional 6,765 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in AutoZone by 247,417.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 249,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,963,000 after purchasing an additional 249,892 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter worth $572,885,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Roth Capital cut their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,023.00 to $3,850.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on AutoZone from $3,200.00 to $3,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,150.00 to $3,500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,669.12.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, VP Dennis LeRiche sold 1,455 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,100.00, for a total value of $4,510,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,367,100. The trade was a 76.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $2,912.52 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,730.65 and a fifty-two week high of $4,076.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2,937.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,133.57. The company has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.40.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 22nd. The company reported $56.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $55.51. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 90.08% and a net margin of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $48.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 171.50 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone Profile

AutoZone, Inc is a specialty retailer of automotive replacement parts, accessories and maintenance products. The company serves do-it-yourself customers as well as professional automotive repair shops, offering products such as batteries, brakes, filters, engine components, tools, fluids and other vehicle parts.

In addition to its retail stores, AutoZone provides commercial sales and delivery services for professional repair businesses. The company also operates ALLDATA, which offers automotive diagnostic, repair and shop-management software and information services to repair professionals.

Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, AutoZone operates primarily in the United States, with additional stores and operations in Mexico and Brazil.