State of Michigan Retirement System Reduces Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,729 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $4,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 13,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $6,406,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth about $107,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,578 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,349 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,698.46. This trade represents a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 1.9 %

GPC opened at $126.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.27. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $112.74 and a 12 month high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts Company Profile

Genuine Parts Company distributes automotive replacement parts, and industrial parts and materials. It operates in two segments: Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group segments. The company distributes automotive replacement parts for hybrid and electric vehicles, trucks, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, farm vehicles, small engines, farm equipment, marine equipment, and heavy duty equipment; and equipment and parts used by repair shops, service stations, fleet operators, automobile and truck dealers, leasing companies, bus and truck lines, mass merchandisers, farms, and individuals.