Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 144 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AutoZone by 232,194.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 731,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,891,963,000 after acquiring an additional 731,413 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in AutoZone by 1.3% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 441,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AutoZone by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 335,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,379,000 after buying an additional 176,623 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in AutoZone by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 259,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,309,000 after buying an additional 11,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 212,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,433,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZO traded up $22.95 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,990.65. 112,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 151,373. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,056.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,795.11. The company has a market capitalization of $51.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2,277.88 and a 1-year high of $3,256.37.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $24.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AZO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AutoZone from $2,900.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,505.00 to $3,420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,108.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total value of $8,993,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,997.76, for a total transaction of $8,993,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,756,456.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Eric S. Gould sold 2,100 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,200.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,990 shares of company stock worth $50,335,193 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.