Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Takes $219,000 Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,875 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 74.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 4,809 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $540,000. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 9.8% during the third quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 87,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 7,845 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 104,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Genuine Parts during the fourth quarter worth $21,840,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GPC shares. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

Shares of GPC opened at $127.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.74 and its 200-day moving average is $125.97. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 EPS for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio is 63.68%.

Insider Activity at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,371,698.46. This represents a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Genuine Parts

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.