Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lessened its position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 80.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,939 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,804 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAP. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 207.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 198.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital raised Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.93.

Insider Activity

In other Advance Auto Parts news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,159.96. The trade was a 5.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Down 5.9 %

AAP stock opened at $45.99 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.53. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.59 and a fifty-two week high of $88.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.53). Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.82) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

About Advance Auto Parts

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.