AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Redburn Atlantic

Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

AZO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating and set a $2,600.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $3,169.38.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,029.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,132.67 and a 200 day moving average of $3,012.32. The company has a market capitalization of $51.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone has a 52 week low of $2,375.35 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 54.58% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $46.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone will post 151.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after purchasing an additional 6,226 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after acquiring an additional 179,543 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 212,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,296,000 after purchasing an additional 22,507 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 203,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,641,000 after acquiring an additional 7,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after purchasing an additional 129,193 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AutoZone

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.