M3 Advisory Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

M3 Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 81 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in AutoZone by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 382,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,596,000 after buying an additional 6,226 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,998,000 after purchasing an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 4.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 203,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,641,000 after purchasing an additional 7,988 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after purchasing an additional 129,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in AutoZone by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 150,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,382 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,166.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,280.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $2,600.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock traded up $3.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3,161.40. 13,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 139,604. The firm has a market cap of $54.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,375.35 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,131.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,008.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $46.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 157.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.