Richard Craig Smith Sells 5,910 Shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) VP Richard Craig Smith sold 5,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $21,867,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,719,900. This represents a 69.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Richard Craig Smith also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 16th, Richard Craig Smith sold 3,190 shares of AutoZone stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,500.00, for a total value of $11,165,000.00.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.4%

AZO traded up $14.56 on Tuesday, reaching $3,800.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 143,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,590. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,210.72 and a fifty-two week high of $4,388.11. The company has a market capitalization of $62.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3,584.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,849.60.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $31.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $32.69 by ($1.65). The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 65.38% and a net margin of 12.78%.AutoZone’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $32.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 8th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AZO. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on AutoZone from $4,600.00 to $4,150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $3,550.00 price objective (down previously from $3,850.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, January 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on AutoZone from $4,850.00 to $4,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $4,800.00 to $4,325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,285.00.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AutoZone by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,797,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,711,912,000 after acquiring an additional 26,544 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AutoZone by 371,123.0% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 935,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,472,724,000 after buying an additional 935,230 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 714,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,650,870,000 after acquiring an additional 11,088 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 444,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,649,228,000 after acquiring an additional 8,187 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 269,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,900,000 after acquiring an additional 3,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

About AutoZone

AutoZone, Inc (NYSE: AZO) is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company supplies a wide range of aftermarket components, maintenance items and accessories for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. Its product assortment includes engine parts, electrical components, batteries, brakes, filters, fluids and interior and exterior accessories, supported by inventory management and logistics systems to serve retail customers and professional service providers.

AutoZone serves both do‑it‑yourself (DIY) consumers and commercial customers such as independent repair shops and service centers.