First Hawaiian Bank Acquires 2,474 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,692 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in 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. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Advance Auto Parts in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 29.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Advance Auto Parts by 198.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAP shares. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advance Auto Parts

In other news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Advance Auto Parts Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Advance Auto Parts stock opened at $46.33 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.59 and a 12-month high of $88.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.47 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.47.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.82) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is 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.