Summit Global Investments Sells 5 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Summit Global Investments lowered its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in AutoZone were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 4.2% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,605.88 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,433.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,259.40. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total transaction of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. The trade was a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,721 shares of company stock worth $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.