American National Bank & Trust Raises Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,816 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. AutoZone comprises approximately 1.4% of American National Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $12,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AZO. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after buying an additional 6,226 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after purchasing an additional 179,543 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in AutoZone by 11.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 22,507 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 203,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,641,000 after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,338,000 after purchasing an additional 129,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,200.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on AutoZone from $3,900.00 to $3,350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on AutoZone from $3,394.00 to $3,341.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,169.38.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $3,087.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,375.35 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3,133.42 and a 200-day moving average of $3,012.48.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 54.58% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $46.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 151.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone 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.