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 16, 2023, there were 1,703 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. 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. On June 14, 2023, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of an additional $2.0 billion of the Company’s common stock, bringing the total value of authorized share repurchases to $35.7 billion.
Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company during the quarter ended August 26, 2023 were as follows:
Period
Total Number of Shares Purchased
Average Price Paid per Share (1)
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 7, 2023 to June 3, 2023
86,678
$
2,560.49
86,678
$
621,625,545
June 4, 2023 to July 1, 2023
94,541
2,416.71
94,541
2,393,147,061
July 2, 2023 to July 29, 2023
107,560
2,532.00
107,560
2,120,805,558
July 30, 2023 to August 26, 2023
114,620
2,499.71
114,620
1,834,288,894
Total
403,399
$
2,501.93
403,399
$
1,834,288,894
(1) Average price per share includes excise tax assessed at one percent of the fair market value of net stock repurchases.
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The Company also repurchased, at market value, an additional 4,886 and 7,611 shares in fiscal years 2022 and 2021, 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, 5,183, 6,238 and 8,479 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. At August 26, 2023, 122,341 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 689, 709 and 997 shares in fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. At August 26, 2023, 232,966 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 25, 2018 and ending August 26, 2023.
Item 6. Reserved
Not required.
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