California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,581 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 874,751 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 7,581 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $121,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPC. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $373,949,000 after buying an additional 1,076,361 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 15,175.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 713,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $98,758,000 after buying an additional 708,388 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,521,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $345,130,000 after buying an additional 367,665 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,633,941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $235,916,000 after buying an additional 313,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,647,000. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GPC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.10.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC stock opened at $163.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.14. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $126.35 and a 52 week high of $174.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day moving average is $142.62. The firm has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.94.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The company had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.59%.

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.