Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The principal market on which our common stock is traded is the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZO.” On October 17, 2022, there were 1,829 stockholders of record, which does not include the number of beneficial owners whose shares were represented by security position listings.
We currently do not pay a dividend on our common stock. Our ability to pay dividends is subject to limitations imposed by Nevada law. Any future payment of dividends would be dependent upon our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and cash flow.
During 1998, the Company announced a program permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by the Company’s Board of Directors. The program was most recently amended on October 4, 2022, to increase the repurchase authorization by $2.5 billion, bringing the total value of authorized share repurchases to $33.7 billion.
Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company during the quarter ended August 27, 2022 were as follows:
Period
Total Number of Shares Purchased
Average Price Paid per Share
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs
Maximum Dollar Value that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
May 8, 2022 to June 4, 2022
104,375
$
1,950.47
104,375
$
1,853,994,652
June 5, 2022 to July 2, 2022
124,813
2,091.49
124,813
1,592,949,614
July 3, 2022 to July 30, 2022
145,865
2,158.08
145,865
1,278,161,281
July 31, 2022 to August 27, 2022
98,751
2,233.73
98,751
1,057,578,284
Total
473,804
$
2,110.57
473,804
$
1,057,578,284
The Company also repurchased, at market value, an additional 4,886, 7,611 and 8,287 shares in fiscal years 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, from employees electing to sell their stock under the Company’s Eighth Amended and Restated Employee Stock Purchase Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Employee Plan”), qualified under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code, under which all eligible employees may purchase AutoZone’s common stock at 85% of the lower of the market price of the common stock on the first day or last day of each calendar quarter through payroll deductions. Maximum permitted annual purchases are $15,000 per employee or 10 percent of compensation, whichever is less. Under the Employee Plan, 6,238, 8,479 and 10,525 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. At August 27, 2022, 127,524 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under the Employee Plan.
Once executives have reached the maximum purchases under the Employee Plan, the Sixth Amended and Restated Executive Stock Purchase Plan (the “Executive Plan”) permits all eligible executives to purchase AutoZone’s common stock up to 25 percent of his or her annual salary and bonus. Purchases by executives under the Executive Plan were 709, 997 and 1,204 shares in fiscal 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. At August 27, 2022, 233,655 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under the Executive Plan.
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Stock Performance Graph
The graph below presents changes in the value of AutoZone’s stock as compared to Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index (“S&P 500”) and to Standard & Poor’s Retail Index (“S&P Retail Index”) for the five-year period beginning August 26, 2017 and ending August 27, 2022.
Item 6. Reserved
Not required.
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