Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,707,699 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 185,913 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.93% of Genuine Parts worth $353,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 41,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,026,000 after acquiring an additional 4,047 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 227,942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,501,000 after buying an additional 12,634 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 11,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,646,000 after buying an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at about $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.10.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPC traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $153.99. The company had a trading volume of 198,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,281. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.61. The stock has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 0.94. 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 12 month low of $126.35 and a 12 month high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. Genuine Parts’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.59%.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.