Legal & General Group Plc Sells 66,201 Shares of Genuine Parts Company $GPC

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 869,185 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 66,201 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.62% of Genuine Parts worth $105,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 18.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 9,829 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Genuine Parts by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,376 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 134,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,995,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Genuine Parts by 40.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 23,252 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 6,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 1.5%

Genuine Parts stock opened at $126.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79 and a beta of 0.75. Genuine Parts Company has a 12-month low of $104.01 and a 12-month high of $143.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $132.01 and its 200 day moving average is $130.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.04). Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Genuine Parts has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.500-7.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 70.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genuine Parts news, EVP Naveen Krishna sold 5,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.12, for a total value of $732,450.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,589.44. This represents a 16.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.00.

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.