ING Groep NV Cuts Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

ING Groep NV trimmed its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 97.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,243 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the 3rd 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. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AutoZone by 1.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,596,000 after buying an additional 6,226 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,998,000 after acquiring an additional 179,543 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,338,000 after acquiring an additional 129,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 150,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,382 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Performance

AutoZone stock opened at $3,107.53 on Monday. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,510.00 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,112.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,025.11.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. 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. On average, analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % 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 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,300.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.