AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Position Increased by Meyer Handelman Co.

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,944 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $6,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,650,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter valued at about $129,000. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 33 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.7 %

AZO stock opened at $3,129.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,130.48 and its 200 day moving average is $3,009.36. The stock has a market cap of $53.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,375.35 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $46.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 157.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $2,600.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $3,182.33.

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.