Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 596 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,223 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 207.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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, AM Squared Ltd increased its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Advance Auto Parts Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of AAP opened at $46.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.59 and a 1 year high of $88.56.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.82%. Advance Auto Parts’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.82) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $56,220.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,159.96. This trade represents a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Advance Auto Parts 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.