First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 16.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 604 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after acquiring an additional 179,543 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 564.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,338,000 after acquiring an additional 129,193 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 2,714.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,267,000 after acquiring an additional 115,924 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho lifted 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,200.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on AutoZone from $3,225.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,017.98 on Thursday. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,463.45 and a fifty-two week high of $3,256.37. The firm has a market cap of $51.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3,125.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,011.68.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $46.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 157.99 EPS for the current year.

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.