Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $11.61 Million Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,627 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $11,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AZO shares. Barclays upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $3,634.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,429.84.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,328.28 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3,238.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,151.29. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,672.31 and a 52 week high of $3,416.71. The company has a market cap of $55.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $32.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

About AutoZone

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.