AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Raymond James Analyst Says

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its target price boosted by analysts at Raymond James from $3,850.00 to $4,000.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.89% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,490.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,700.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AutoZone from $3,450.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,646.62.

AutoZone Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AZO stock opened at $3,607.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone has a twelve month low of $2,728.97 and a twelve month high of $3,615.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,358.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,226.46.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AutoZone will post 152.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 18.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 186.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 29.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 592.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,012,000 after acquiring an additional 7,879 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.