Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Advance Auto Parts from $55.00 to $60.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock, which suggests a potential downside of 1.28% from its current price.
• Despite a challenging financial quarter with a reported 7.7% decline in revenue year-over-year, Advance Auto Parts exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $0.69 earnings per share against an anticipated $0.59.
• Analyst ratings show a mixed outlook for the stock, with one buy rating, eighteen hold ratings, and two sell ratings, leading to a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average price target of $52.03.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.28% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Redburn Partners raised Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $60.52 target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Advance Auto Parts from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Advance Auto Parts from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Advance Auto Parts presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $52.03.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

AAP stock traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.78. The stock had a trading volume of 404,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,551,856. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.54 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average price is $58.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.30. Advance Auto Parts has a 1-year low of $28.89 and a 1-year high of $70.00.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Advance Auto Parts had a negative return on equity of 1.97% and a negative net margin of 4.37%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Advance Auto Parts has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.200-2.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advance Auto Parts

In other Advance Auto Parts news, SVP Jason Hand sold 948 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $45,996.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,876 shares in the company, valued at $479,183.52. This represents a 8.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Advance Auto Parts

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAP. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Advance Auto Parts by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,312,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,611 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,387,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,987,000 after buying an additional 1,028,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,867,000 after buying an additional 461,761 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Advance Auto Parts by 281.2% in the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 600,895 shares of the company's stock worth $23,561,000 after acquiring an additional 443,251 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Advance Auto Parts in the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,882,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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