Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,872 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,585 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Genuine Parts worth $14,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,296,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $458,947,000 after purchasing an additional 32,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,889,930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $337,428,000 after purchasing an additional 145,960 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 1.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,057,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $287,405,000 after purchasing an additional 25,015 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 6.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,840,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $257,124,000 after purchasing an additional 114,180 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genuine Parts Stock Up 2.3 %

GPC stock opened at $122.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $112.74 and a 52 week high of $164.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 63.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GPC. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.63.

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.