3,867 Shares in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,867 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPC. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,300,000 after buying an additional 401,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Genuine Parts by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,296,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $458,947,000 after acquiring an additional 32,858 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,743,970 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,511,000 after purchasing an additional 30,354 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,057,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $287,405,000 after purchasing an additional 25,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,840,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $257,124,000 after purchasing an additional 114,180 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Northcoast Research lowered Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.50.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In other news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,357 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,698.46. This trade represents a 12.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE GPC opened at $118.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.95. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $112.74 and a 12 month high of $164.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $120.32 and a 200-day moving average of $130.01.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 27.23% and a net margin of 4.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.48%.

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.