Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 152,939 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,599 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $499,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AutoZone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 421,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,326,545,000 after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,117,000 after purchasing an additional 419,375 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,867,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 169,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,204,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in AutoZone by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 163,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,211,000 after buying an additional 42,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AZO opened at $3,680.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,460.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,270.12. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,704.43. The stock has a market cap of $61.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,500. This trade represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.