Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Sells 6,628 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. reduced its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 68.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,628 shares during the quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPC. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 2.3 %

GPC opened at $122.16 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $112.74 and a twelve month high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued 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 business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

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