Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 280,865 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,754 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Advance Auto Parts worth $10,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Advance Auto Parts during the third quarter valued at $1,117,000. Savoie Capital LLC lifted its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 117.2% in the 3rd quarter. Savoie Capital LLC now owns 69,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,710,000 after buying an additional 37,500 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Advance Auto Parts in the 3rd quarter valued at about $503,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 10,858 shares of the company's stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,046,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AAP shares. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of 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. Roth Capital raised shares of Advance Auto Parts to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Up 4.5 %

AAP traded up $1.99 on Monday, hitting $46.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,896,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,066,144. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.08 and a beta of 1.21. The company's fifty day moving average price is $41.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.24. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) 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 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 business's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.82) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Advance Auto Parts's payout ratio is 136.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total value of $56,220.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,159.96. This trade represents a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company 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.