Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 12 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,709 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $6,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 435,031.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 770,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,936,535,000 after acquiring an additional 770,005 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,117,000 after acquiring an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 324,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,421,000 after acquiring an additional 17,518 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the fourth quarter worth about $834,556,000. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after acquiring an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.3%

AZO opened at $3,634.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $60.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,792.14 and a twelve month high of $3,916.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,695.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,506.97.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The company reported $35.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $37.07 by ($1.71). The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.41 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $36.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of AutoZone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $4,600.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $4,000.00 price target (up from $3,750.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,830.00 to $4,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,072.24.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,708.93, for a total transaction of $101,995,575.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,696,515.78. This represents a 76.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,660.00, for a total transaction of $17,568,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 159 shares in the company, valued at $581,940. This trade represents a 96.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,762 shares of company stock worth $147,189,762. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.