Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 8,500 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 72.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,293 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPC. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Genuine Parts by 1.0% during 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 buying an additional 32,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,889,930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $337,428,000 after buying an additional 145,960 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position 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 worth $287,405,000 after acquiring an additional 25,015 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 114,180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPC opened at $123.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.68 and a 200-day moving average of $125.03. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.68%.

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.