Geode Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 830,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109,326 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $32,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 140.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,908,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,409,000 after buying an additional 1,698,155 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Advance Auto Parts by 76.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,266,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,197,000 after acquiring an additional 547,696 shares during the last quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 159.7% in the second quarter. Dorsal Capital Management LP now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,162,000 after acquiring an additional 768,664 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Advance Auto Parts by 31.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,075,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,937,000 after purchasing an additional 258,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legion Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legion Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 786,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,793,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAP shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Roth Capital upgraded Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Advance Auto Parts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.40.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

NYSE:AAP opened at $43.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.92 and its 200 day moving average is $48.79. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $88.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.90 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.53). Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.82) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Advance Auto Parts news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,159.96. The trade was a 5.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.