Genuine Parts Company $GPC Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in Genuine Parts Company by 92.2%, selling 59,237 shares in the first quarter and holding only 4,978 shares worth approximately $593,000.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Genuine Parts, with JPMorgan increasing its target from $134.00 to $145.00 and UBS from $125.00 to $135.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Genuine Parts Company reported an EPS of $2.10 for the last quarter, beating expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.0%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 92.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,978 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 59,237 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 1st quarter valued at $3,344,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,430 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. United Community Bank lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 4,452.1% in the 1st quarter. United Community Bank now owns 16,251 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 15,894 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 1st quarter valued at $2,422,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 276.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,352,772 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $399,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461,497 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $134.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.86.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

NYSE:GPC traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.68. 287,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,382,811. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Genuine Parts Company has a 1 year low of $104.01 and a 1 year high of $144.29.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.02. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 3.40%.The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Genuine Parts has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Genuine Parts's payout ratio is currently 70.91%.

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.