Enhancing Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 70 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 70 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,375,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,842,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 988 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In related news, SVP K. Michelle Borninkhof sold 136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,550.08, for a total transaction of $482,810.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,430,682.24. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,501,200. This represents a 79.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,871 shares of company stock worth $6,720,811 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AZO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,651.91.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZO opened at $3,611.51 on Wednesday. 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 price of $3,415.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,250.39. The stock has a market cap of $60.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.