Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 10,851 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,851 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Genuine Parts by 10.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 41,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,047 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Genuine Parts by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 148,121 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,515,000 after buying an additional 26,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 227,942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,501,000 after buying an additional 12,634 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on GPC shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total transaction of $453,870.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,967,677.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total transaction of $453,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,967,677.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total transaction of $503,490.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPC traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $145.22. The stock had a trading volume of 468,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,637. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.50. Genuine Parts has a one year low of $126.35 and a one year high of $170.57.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 9.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is 44.59%.

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.