Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires Shares of 34,387 Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 34,387 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,097,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,362,748 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $391,604,000 after buying an additional 65,783 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,262,229 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $380,898,000 after buying an additional 518,851 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,889,930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $337,428,000 after buying an additional 145,960 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,502,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $292,233,000 after buying an additional 445,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,136,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $249,426,000 after buying an additional 104,343 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC stock opened at $119.43 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $104.01 and a twelve month high of $149.22. The company has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.29.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.09. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Genuine Parts’s payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 26th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $114.00 target price (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Genuine Parts from $133.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Genuine Parts to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.