National Bank of Canada FI Has $45.20 Million Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 668 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of AutoZone worth $45,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AZO stock opened at $3,811.59 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,515.75 and a 200-day moving average of $3,294.29. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,842.82. The company has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AZO shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $3,044.00 to $3,811.00 in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,724.00.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total value of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,501,200. This trade represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,924 shares in the company, 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 6,721 shares of company stock worth $24,609,331. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.