Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 922,972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 212,435 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $107,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPC shares. Truist Financial boosted 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 lowered Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $114.00 target price (down previously from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.88.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPC opened at $113.19 on Friday. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $104.01 and a twelve month high of $164.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.39. The company has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 0.82.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. 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.