Quest Partners LLC Sells 131 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Quest Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AZO. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,202.71.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,070.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,111.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,028.09. The company has a market cap of $51.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,256.37.

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 the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $46.46 EPS. Analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share 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.