Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $329.70 Million Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,665 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of AutoZone worth $329,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 179,543 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in AutoZone by 564.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after buying an additional 129,193 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 2,714.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,267,000 after acquiring an additional 115,924 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AZO opened at $3,099.38 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,510.00 and a 12 month high of $3,256.37. The company has a market capitalization of $52.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,111.05 and a 200 day moving average of $3,029.01.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $46.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AZO. Roth Capital raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,202.71.

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.