Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 1,082 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,209 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,082 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $373,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,361 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 15,175.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 713,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $98,758,000 after buying an additional 708,388 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 17.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,521,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $345,130,000 after buying an additional 367,665 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 313,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,647,000. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Genuine Parts currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the company’s 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 owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPC opened at $161.80 on Thursday. 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 $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 30.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

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.