Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,992 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 979 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts during the third quarter worth about $42,000. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GPC. Wedbush reiterated 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares in the company, valued at $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.7 %

Genuine Parts stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $155.65. 273,083 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,492. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $126.35 and a 52-week high of $174.91. The firm has a market cap of $21.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $153.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.43.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.59%.

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.