Wambolt & Associates LLC Purchases 8 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 482,040.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 419,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,343,117,000 after acquiring an additional 419,375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 4th quarter valued at $471,629,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 6,083.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 90,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,281,000 after purchasing an additional 89,190 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised 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 worth $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $189,483,000. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on 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 lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on AutoZone from $3,500.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Argus cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,683.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Dennis W. Leriche sold 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,600.00, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,501,200. The trade was 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 that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,550.00, for a total transaction of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50 shares in the company, valued at $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,721 shares of company stock worth $17,009,311 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,675.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $61.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3,450.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,267.24. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 EPS 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.