119,738 Shares in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Bought by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 119,738 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $16,697,000. Sapient Capital LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Genuine Parts as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 71.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $373,949,000 after buying an additional 1,076,361 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 17.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,521,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $345,130,000 after buying an additional 367,665 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 23.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,633,941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $235,916,000 after buying an additional 313,438 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,597,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $230,687,000 after buying an additional 31,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,491,923 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $215,404,000 after buying an additional 61,764 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GPC traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $157.41. 670,520 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,304,451. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $174.91. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.28.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 30.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genuine Parts

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.