Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 101,305 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lowered its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,691,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 101,305 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $314,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $57,407,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 391,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,708,000 after purchasing an additional 191,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Shares of GPC opened at $116.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.16 and a 200-day moving average of $123.54. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $112.74 and a one year high of $164.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 63.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Genuine Parts from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $114.00 target price (down previously from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.88.

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.