Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stock Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,010 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Genuine Parts by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $373,949,000 after buying an additional 1,076,361 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Genuine Parts by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,521,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $345,130,000 after purchasing an additional 367,665 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,633,941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $235,916,000 after purchasing an additional 313,438 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Genuine Parts by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,597,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $230,687,000 after purchasing an additional 31,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,491,923 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $215,404,000 after buying an additional 61,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the firm’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 owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GPC opened at $156.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $153.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.43. The stock has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 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. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $126.35 and a 52-week high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.07. The business 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price (up previously from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.10.

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.