Columbia Asset Management Has $604,000 Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Columbia Asset Management cut its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,175 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,128,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $57,407,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Genuine Parts by 5.4% in 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 buying an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased 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 buying an additional 191,272 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $114.00 price objective (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.00.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $118.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $112.74 and a 12-month high of $164.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.11 and a 200-day moving average of $123.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.93.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. The firm 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.68%.

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.