Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 1,375 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Romano Brothers AND Company decreased its stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 207.4% during the 4th 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. increased its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 56.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% in 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAP. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.93.

Insider Activity at Advance Auto Parts

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

Advance Auto Parts Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AAP opened at $45.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.16. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.59 and a 1 year high of $88.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.56.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.82) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.52 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, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Advance Auto Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.99%.

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.