Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 494 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $190,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genuine Parts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in Genuine Parts during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 0.4 %

GPC opened at $153.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $126.35 and a 12 month high of $174.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.99.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 5.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Genuine Parts from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.89.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.