Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 403,175 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,222 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $55,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,088,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,153,442,000 after buying an additional 481,039 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,189,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,209,476,000 after buying an additional 171,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,860,574 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $612,531,000 after buying an additional 185,529 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,977,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $497,089,000 after buying an additional 36,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 16,507.5% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,611,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $261,119,000 after buying an additional 2,595,471 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPC has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Genuine Parts has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.33.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 11.2 %

NYSE GPC opened at $160.23 on Friday. Genuine Parts has a 1-year low of $126.35 and a 1-year high of $174.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.22.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 31.64%. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. Genuine Parts’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 42.87%.

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.