Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Sold by Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $57,407,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1,038.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 277,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,803,000 after acquiring an additional 253,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,708,000 after acquiring an additional 191,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPC. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock opened at $124.72 on Thursday. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $112.74 and a 12-month high of $164.45. The company has a market capitalization of $17.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.93. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $120.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.03.

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

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio 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.