Renaissance Group LLC Sells 180 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Renaissance Group LLC reduced its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AutoZone by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,717,000 after buying an additional 6,898 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 34,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the fourth quarter worth $228,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, CEO Philip B. Daniele sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,800.01, for a total value of $7,600,020.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $619,401.63. The trade was a 92.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,555,640. This trade represents a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,721 shares of company stock valued at $24,609,331. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AZO shares. Roth Capital set a $3,763.00 price target on AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Argus downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,724.00.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,500.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,540.75 and a 200 day moving average of $3,312.81. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,728.97 and a 52 week high of $3,916.81.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current 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.