Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $69.01 Million Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,907 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 360 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of AutoZone worth $69,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 32 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AutoZone by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on AutoZone in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,384.89.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,613,046.40. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,253.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,510.00 and a 12 month high of $3,416.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,171.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,084.67.

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