Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 203 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. $AZO

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $3,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AZO. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in AutoZone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $743,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 5,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,682,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 300 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,775.00, for a total transaction of $1,132,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 416 shares in the company, valued at $1,570,400. This trade represents a 41.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 5,693 shares of company stock worth $23,259,891 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO opened at $3,804.83 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,036.40 and a 52-week high of $4,388.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,984.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,892.09. The firm has a market cap of $63.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 13.19%.AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $51.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZO. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $4,090.00 to $4,262.00 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Zacks Research lowered AutoZone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $4,300.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on AutoZone from $3,916.00 to $4,610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,547.56.

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.