Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $5.29 Million Stock Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,170 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 47,172 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $5,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 84,681 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $11,728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,917 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Genuine Parts Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GPC opened at $163.36 on Wednesday. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $126.35 and a 12 month high of $174.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $151.08 and its 200-day moving average is $142.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.59%.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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.