William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,239 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,493,000. AutoZone makes up about 12.1% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners grew its position in AutoZone by 1.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,596,000 after acquiring an additional 6,226 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,998,000 after acquiring an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 212,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,296,000 after buying an additional 22,507 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 203,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,641,000 after buying an additional 7,988 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after buying an additional 129,193 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $2,600.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,394.00 to $3,341.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,169.38.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,196.61 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,375.35 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market cap of $54.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,121.63 and a 200-day moving average of $3,011.39.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 54.58%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $46.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 151.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.50% 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.