AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Shares Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,794 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the quarter. AutoZone comprises about 1.5% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 809,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,017,410,000 after acquiring an additional 11,438 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 107,977.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,724,500,000 after purchasing an additional 698,613 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in AutoZone by 111.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,379,000 after purchasing an additional 176,623 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $658,788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, COO Thomas B. Newbern sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,551.62, for a total transaction of $19,902,636.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,427,530.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total transaction of $21,374,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,992,208.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas B. Newbern sold 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,551.62, for a total value of $19,902,636.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,427,530.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,797 shares of company stock valued at $81,010,974 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO traded down $41.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,151.65. The stock had a trading volume of 173,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 149,714. The company has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2,912.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,699.29. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,277.88 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 14.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 151.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZO. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,375.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,080.72.

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.