Independent Advisor Alliance Has $1.02 Million Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 319 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at $239,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in AutoZone by 3.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 519 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,891,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 7.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,866,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AZO. Citigroup increased 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price objective on AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,651.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total value of $5,670,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 417 shares in the company, valued at $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total value of $482,810.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,430,682.24. This trade represents a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,871 shares of company stock valued at $6,720,811. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,553.69 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,704.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3,401.49 and a 200-day moving average of $3,244.10. The company has a market cap of $59.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.