Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its target price lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on AZO. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,200.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on AutoZone from $3,787.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,216.44.

AutoZone Stock Performance

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,189.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,128.32 and its 200-day moving average is $3,042.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone has a 52 week low of $2,510.00 and a 52 week high of $3,256.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total value of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 48.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total value of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,166.42. This represents a 56.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AutoZone by 50.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 15 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.