Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 20 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $4,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rock Creek Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE AZO opened at $2,963.27 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,010.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,764.30. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,277.88 and a one year high of $3,256.37. The company has a market capitalization of $51.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. AutoZone’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $24.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AZO. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,363.00 to $3,523.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,450.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,100.00 to $3,425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,086.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 910 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,190.22, for a total value of $21,374,474.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,357 shares in the company, valued at $48,992,208.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AutoZone 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.