Isthmus Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 4,887 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,394,000. AutoZone makes up 1.8% of Isthmus Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in AutoZone by 186.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,544,000 after buying an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,816,000. Verde Capital Management purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,137,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 592.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,012,000 after buying an additional 7,879 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,979,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, 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 transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. The trade was a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $3,025.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price objective on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Capital raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,190.10 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,510.00 and a 52-week high of $3,256.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,118.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3,034.04. The firm has a market cap of $53.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $46.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current 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.