Jones Financial Companies Lllp Boosts Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 95.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,578 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 4,809 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $540,000. Miramar Capital LLC grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 9.8% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 9.7% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $21,840,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of Genuine Parts stock opened at $123.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $120.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.76.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 63.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,371,698.46. This represents a 12.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research cut Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.