Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,218 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 25,726 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.13% of Genuine Parts worth $20,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,645,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,128,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Genuine Parts by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,262,229 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $380,898,000 after buying an additional 518,851 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,407,000. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $36,819,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPC. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Northcoast Research cut shares of Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $114.00 price objective (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Genuine Parts to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.86.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GPC stock traded up $2.53 on Friday, hitting $119.53. The stock had a trading volume of 256,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,806. The company's 50 day moving average price is $118.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.22. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $104.01 and a 1 year high of $159.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 0.82.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.09. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The business had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Genuine Parts's payout ratio is currently 67.65%.

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.