EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Has $8.84 Million Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $8,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,344,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.5% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 8.7% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares in the company, valued at $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,561.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,383.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,236.73. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43. The stock has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,875.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,651.91.

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.