Waddell & Associates LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 763 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $2,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the second quarter worth $50,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,099.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3,111.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,029.01. The company has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,510.00 and a twelve month high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $46.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AZO. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.