OFI Invest Asset Management Buys New Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 74.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,809 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth $540,000. Miramar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 9.8% in the third quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 87,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 7,845 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Genuine Parts by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 104,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth $21,840,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE GPC opened at $123.74 on Wednesday. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $112.74 and a 12 month high of $164.45. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $120.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.68%.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total transaction of $194,214.24. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Genuine Parts

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.