QV Investors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

QV Investors Inc. lowered its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $10,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZO. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 66.7% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the first quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AZO. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,504.00 to $4,499.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $4,741.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,544.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,570.80. The trade was a 69.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,533 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,020.88, for a total value of $10,184,889.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55 shares in the company, valued at $221,148.40. This represents a 97.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,801.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,980.10 and a 12 month high of $4,388.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4,141.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,876.96.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $50.52 by ($1.81). The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $51.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AutoZone declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.