Keystone Financial Planning Inc. Cuts Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Keystone Financial Planning Inc. decreased its position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,377 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Genuine Parts comprises 0.8% of Keystone Financial Planning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Keystone Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $2,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Genuine Parts by 5.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after acquiring an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,296,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $458,947,000 after purchasing an additional 32,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,743,970 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,511,000 after buying an additional 30,354 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Genuine Parts by 1.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,057,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $287,405,000 after buying an additional 25,015 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 6.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,840,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $257,124,000 after buying an additional 114,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.8 %

GPC stock traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $116.86. 796,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,019,294. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $112.74 and a one year high of $164.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $120.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.00.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 27.23% and a net margin of 4.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GPC. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $138.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.57.

Insider Activity

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

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.