Acropolis Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,917 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,296,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $458,947,000 after buying an additional 32,858 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,743,970 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,511,000 after buying an additional 30,354 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,057,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $287,405,000 after acquiring an additional 25,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,840,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $257,124,000 after acquiring an additional 114,180 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,698.46. The trade was a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GPC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.57.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC stock opened at $116.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $112.74 and a 1 year high of $164.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.94 and a 200 day moving average of $130.86. The company has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.95.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 27.23% and a net margin of 4.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.48%.

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.