Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) Stake Cut by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP – Get Rating) by 32.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,088 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of Advance Auto Parts worth $5,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 15.7% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 15.1% during the third quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 33,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,377 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 265.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 27,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 20,154 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 46,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,782,000 after purchasing an additional 29,065 shares in the last quarter. 96.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $150.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Argus cut shares of Advance Auto Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Roth Mkm lowered Advance Auto Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Monday, February 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.17.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AAP opened at $121.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.05 and a 1-year high of $212.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $122.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.47. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 28.53% and a net margin of 4.50%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 72.55%.

Advance Auto Parts Company Profile

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Advance Auto Parts, Inc engages in the supply and distribution of aftermarket automotive products for both professional installers and do-it-yourself customers. It operates through the following segments: Advance Auto Parts/Carquest U.S., Carquest Canada, Worldpac, and Independents. The company was founded by Arthur Taubman in 1929 and is headquartered in Raleigh, NC.