Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 27.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in AutoZone by 3.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in AutoZone by 4.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,933,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,344,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.6% in the third 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 period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,435.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,680.96 and a 12-month high of $3,484.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,302.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,190.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 in the previous year, the business posted $32.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,429.84.

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.