Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Reduces Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lowered its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,373 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,651 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $5,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GPC. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,976 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 84,681 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,728,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock traded down $2.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $159.70. 126,863 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,478. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $126.35 and a one year high of $174.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day simple moving average 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.94.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 30.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

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.