AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 363,400 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the December 31st total of 333,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 129,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after buying an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after acquiring an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates boosted its position in AutoZone by 0.5% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,204,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in AutoZone by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,211,000 after purchasing an additional 42,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,560.00 to $3,678.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,437.77 on Tuesday. AutoZone has a 12-month low of $2,672.31 and a 12-month high of $3,445.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,263.25 and a 200-day moving average of $3,167.44. The company has a market capitalization of $57.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $32.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

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.