Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 202 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 50.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 25.0% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,241.18 on Tuesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,575.00 and a twelve month high of $3,416.71. The stock has a market cap of $54.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3,216.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,127.21.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $32.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.