Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 186,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,822,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 6,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 207.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Shane M. Okelly purchased 1,500 shares of Advance Auto Parts stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.79 per share, for a total transaction of $55,185.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 183,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,021.59. This represents a 0.83 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eugene I. Lee, Jr. purchased 14,640 shares of Advance Auto Parts stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.15 per share, for a total transaction of $499,956.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,163,490.50. The trade was a 75.35 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAP shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Advance Auto Parts from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of AAP opened at $37.43 on Friday. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.08 and a 12-month high of $87.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 51.27, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.27.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is presently -17.86%.

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.