Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys New Stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,970,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,442,611,000 after acquiring an additional 261,715 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 9.3% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,435,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,799,000 after purchasing an additional 376,025 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 28.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,431,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,340,000 after acquiring an additional 754,027 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 3.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,313,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,801,000 after acquiring an additional 114,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 2,226.6% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,026,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,560 shares during the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Advance Auto Parts from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.47.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

AAP opened at $70.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.73 and a 52-week high of $129.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.95. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.17.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.83). The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 1.68%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carla Jean Bailo purchased 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $81.19 per share, for a total transaction of $25,168.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,008.91. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Carla Jean Bailo purchased 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $81.19 per share, for a total transaction of $25,168.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,008.91. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brent Windom purchased 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.34 per share, with a total value of $401,098.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,400. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Advance Auto Parts Company Profile

Advance Auto Parts, Inc provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts.