First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $995,000 Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AutoZone by 50.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the third quarter valued at $47,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AZO shares. StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $3,025.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,200.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,202.71.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO opened at $3,070.94 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2,510.00 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,111.40 and a 200-day moving average of $3,028.09.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $53.31 by ($5.20). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.25 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.40% and a negative return on equity of 52.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $46.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 158.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Company 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.