Empire Financial Management Company LLC Purchases 17 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 395 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. BNP Paribas raised AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,341.00 to $3,501.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,025.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,232.88.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,347.85 on Wednesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2,510.00 and a 12 month high of $3,416.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,134.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,053.20. The firm has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $32.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 155.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last 90 days. 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.