Wendy B. Needham Sells 3,000 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Stock

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) 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 value of $453,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,967,677.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

GPC opened at $145.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.42. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $126.35 and a fifty-two week high of $170.57.

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

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GPC. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.10.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the fourth quarter worth $215,643,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 71.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $373,949,000 after buying an additional 1,076,361 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 15,175.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 713,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $98,758,000 after buying an additional 708,388 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,029,388 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $281,078,000 after buying an additional 431,623 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 3,029.9% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 380,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,999,000 after buying an additional 368,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Company 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.