Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 74,951 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,007,390 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 74,951 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Genuine Parts worth $1,985,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 18,715 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 3,494 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 0.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 27,881 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,630 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GPC shares. Loop Capital began coverage on Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $118.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $112.74 and a 52 week high of $164.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.31.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts 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.