Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Sells 3,130 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,885 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,130 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,407,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after acquiring an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Genuine Parts by 1,038.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 277,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $38,803,000 after acquiring an additional 253,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,708,000 after acquiring an additional 191,272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GPC stock opened at $124.72 on Thursday. Genuine Parts has a 1-year low of $112.74 and a 1-year high of $164.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $17.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.84 and a 200-day moving average of $125.03.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 63.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.