Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Decreases Stock Position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in AutoZone were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZO. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 7.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AutoZone by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AutoZone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in AutoZone by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AutoZone from $3,753.00 to $3,841.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,525.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price target on AutoZone from $3,024.00 to $3,585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded AutoZone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $3,500.00 to $4,192.00 in a research report on Friday. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,683.36.

AutoZone Price Performance

NYSE:AZO opened at $3,605.88 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,728.97 and a 1 year high of $3,704.43. The company has a market cap of $60.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3,433.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,257.92.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.18% and a negative return on equity of 53.89%. On average, analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 152.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP Richard Craig Smith sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,610.00, for a total value of $10,288,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,555,640. The trade was a 49.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bailey L. Childress sold 160 shares of the business’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 value of $568,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,500. This represents a 76.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,721 shares of company stock valued at $17,009,311. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.