Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 18.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,446 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,361 shares during the quarter. AutoZone comprises 2.1% of Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $38,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at $687,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AZO shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,894.00 to $4,090.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,100.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $4,155.00 to $4,811.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,544.68.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.0%

AutoZone stock opened at $4,058.32 on Wednesday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,980.10 and a 1-year high of $4,388.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,153.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,861.13.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported $48.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.52 by ($1.81). AutoZone had a net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.49%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $51.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

AutoZone announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,875.90, for a total transaction of $11,627,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,337,007.50. The trade was a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 2,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,175.70, for a total value of $11,942,502.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,570.80. This represents a 69.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.