TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.39% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Roth Capital upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,384.89.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,322.11 on Monday. AutoZone has a 1 year low of $2,510.00 and a 1 year high of $3,416.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3,165.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,077.23. The company has a market cap of $56.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $32.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s 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 value of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in AutoZone by 50.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

About AutoZone

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.