Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11,848.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,741 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,626 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AutoZone were worth $43,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,545,000 after buying an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 482,040.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after buying an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,867,000 after buying an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its holdings in AutoZone by 0.5% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,204,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,211,000 after buying an additional 42,776 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,871 shares of company stock valued at $6,720,811. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AZO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,700.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,651.91.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,569.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3,426.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,254.98. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,704.43. The firm has a market cap of $59.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.