Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 3,554 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,738 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,554 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $7,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

NYSE GPC opened at $122.11 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.59 and a 200-day moving average of $126.75. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $112.74 and a 52-week high of $164.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 63.68%.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,698.46. The trade was a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.