C WorldWide Group Holding A S Makes New Investment in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 27,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,630 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,506,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho started coverage on AutoZone in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,086.61.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of AZO stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2,945.98. 115,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,387. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3,029.04 and a 200 day moving average of $2,772.66. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The company has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 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.