Short Interest in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) Drops By 8.7%

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 425,100 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the September 30th total of 465,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 120,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

AutoZone Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AutoZone stock opened at $3,009.00 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,122.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,011.66. AutoZone has a 12-month low of $2,463.45 and a 12-month high of $3,256.37. The company has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.70.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 24th. The company reported $48.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $53.31 by ($5.20). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 52.99% and a net margin of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $46.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone will post 157.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total transaction of $922,560.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,613,046.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,055,777.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock valued at $46,225,660. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AutoZone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AutoZone by 354,692.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,293,100,000 after buying an additional 993,139 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 137.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,998,000 after purchasing an additional 179,543 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 2nd quarter valued at $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in AutoZone by 564.2% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 152,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,338,000 after purchasing an additional 129,193 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in AutoZone by 2,714.8% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 120,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,267,000 after purchasing an additional 115,924 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $3,634.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,025.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,340.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,202.71.

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.