Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Purchases New Holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 171,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $19,966,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced 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 research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC opened at $118.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $112.74 and a 1 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.13 and a 200-day moving average of $124.15.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 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 last year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share 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 dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.