Willis Investment Counsel Sells 30,637 Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Willis Investment Counsel lowered its holdings in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,637 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAP. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,684,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 212.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 31,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 21,320 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $579,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts during the 4th quarter worth $1,196,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the third quarter worth $2,144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Tammy M. Finley sold 1,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $56,220.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,266 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,159.96. The trade was a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $60.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Roth Capital raised Advance Auto Parts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.93.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AAP opened at $48.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 66.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.59 and a twelve month high of $88.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.64.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.53). Advance Auto Parts had a return on equity of 1.82% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.82) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

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.