Will AutoZone’s Double-Digit EPS For The 25th Consecutive Quarter Delight These Top Institutional Shareholders?

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE:AZO) reported a first quarter earnings per share of $5.41 which beats estimates by $0.02. Revenue is up 3.5% on an annualised basis to $1.99 billion and in-line with expectations. This was the company’s 25th consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings per share growth. Gross profit as a percentage of sales improved to 51.8% compared to 51.1% in the year ago quarter, primarily due to better merchandise margins. The company opened nineteen new stores and closed one in the United States, opened four new stores in Mexico and their first store in Brazil. AutoZone paid $317 million to repurchase 855,000 shares of their common stock during the quarter. The company also announced an agreement with AutoAnything, an online retailer of specialized automotive products, to purchase their assets and select liabilities.

Will AutoZone Inc.’s shareholders decrease their holdings? They reported owning a total of 35.458 million shares on 09/30/2012. The shares closed at $369.67 on 09/30/2012.

Catalysts are critical to discovering winning stocks. Check out our newest CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.

Here are the ten largest positions in AutoZone Inc. at the end of September 30th, 2012.

FMR LLC. held 2,091,876 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $773,303,829. This brought the portfolio total to 0.14%.

J.P Morgan Chase & Co. held 1,824,802 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $674,574,580. This brought the portfolio total to 0.24%.

Price T. Rowe Associates Inc. /MD/ held 1,747,252 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $645,906,670. This brought the portfolio total to 0.19%.

State Street Corp. held 1,676,187 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $619,636,071. This brought the portfolio total to 0.09%.

Vanguard Group Inc. held 1,563,258 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $577,889,606. This brought the portfolio total to 0.07%.

Wellington Management Co LLP. held 1,506,964 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $557,079,402. This brought the portfolio total to 0.2%.

Janus Capital Management LLC. held 1,124,409 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $415,660,290. This brought the portfolio total to 0.55%.

Blackrock Institutional Trust Company N.A. held 1,051,173 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $388,587,137. This brought the portfolio total to 0.09%.

Lone Pine Capital LLC. held 864,249 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $319,486,939. This brought the portfolio total to 1.94%.

Marsico Capital Management LLC. held 664,479 shares on 09/30/2012 worth $245,637,961. This brought the portfolio total to 0.99%.

Knowing which stocks have institutional support will help improve your investing skills, and teach you how to ride the waves of strong moves. In fact, “S = Support is Provided By Institutional Investors & Company Insiders” is a core component of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework for this very reason. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.