Farther Finance Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,717,000 after buying an additional 6,898 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in AutoZone by 186.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in AutoZone by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in AutoZone by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in AutoZone by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,591.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,420.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,252.77. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,728.97 and a 12 month high of $3,704.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AZO. UBS Group lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,651.91.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,682.24. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,871 shares of company stock valued at $6,720,811. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.