AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Argus

Argus cut shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AZO. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,646.62.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,569.49 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3,351.07 and its 200 day moving average is $3,223.79. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,728.97 and a fifty-two week high of $3,570.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in AutoZone by 630.1% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $157,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $95,480,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,903,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.