Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 4 Shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AZO. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 428.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 37 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 5.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 18,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,030,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AZO shares. Roth Capital upgraded AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,038.00 to $3,125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,360.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AutoZone Price Performance

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,370.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,155.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,069.24. AutoZone, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2,510.00 and a fifty-two week high of $3,416.71. The firm has a market cap of $56.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $32.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 154.29 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.