Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 421,716 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,326,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter worth $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $3,025.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,200.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,232.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,055,777.55. The trade was a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,347.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3,134.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,053.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,510.00 and a 52-week high of $3,416.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $33.69 by ($1.17). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $32.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 155.79 EPS for the current year.

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.