Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 46.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,130 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,667 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 74.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,311 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,809 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at $540,000. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 104,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth $21,840,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 23.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 303,676 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $42,417,000 after buying an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GPC. Loop Capital began coverage on 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 lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $114.00 price objective (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $135.00.

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Genuine Parts Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GPC traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $120.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,078,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,217,214. The firm has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $112.74 and a 52-week high of $164.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $121.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.72. 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 (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Genuine Parts's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts Company 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.