Metis Global Partners LLC Has $1.72 Million Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 665 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 232,194.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,891,963,000 after buying an additional 731,413 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,572,000 after buying an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of AutoZone by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,379,000 after acquiring an additional 176,623 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 259,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,309,000 after acquiring an additional 11,104 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AutoZone by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,346.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,000.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,108.83.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $2,990.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3,056.63 and its 200 day moving average is $2,795.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,277.88 and a 1 year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $26.08 by $2.81. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $24.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,756,456.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,990 shares of company stock valued at $50,335,193. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.