Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in AutoZone by 29.5% during the 4th 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 increased its stake in AutoZone by 1.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in AutoZone by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.5 %

AutoZone stock opened at $3,769.72 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,728.97 and a 12-month high of $3,838.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,483.80 and a 200 day moving average of $3,280.69.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. On average, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AZO. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson raised AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price target on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total transaction of $7,600,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163 shares in the company, valued at $619,401.63. This trade represents a 92.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, valued at $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.