Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Stock Holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,324 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $8,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,980 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at about $239,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 14,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 3,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Finally, Country Club Bank GFN lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Country Club Bank GFN now owns 47,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,627,000 after purchasing an additional 9,426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,000 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total value of $453,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,967,677.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.14.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC traded up $2.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $145.02. 43,638 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,017,862. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.44. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $126.35 and a 52-week high of $164.45. The company has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92 and a beta of 0.92.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.59 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 30.03% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts 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.