Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Shares Purchased by Oakworth Capital Inc.

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 250.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,741 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Genuine Parts by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 19,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 9.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,928 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,448,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 63.1% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 78,951 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,949,000 after purchasing an additional 30,545 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 195.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 114,328 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,408,000 after purchasing an additional 75,591 shares during 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 brokerages have issued reports on GPC. StockNews.com raised shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Genuine Parts from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.33.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $144.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,261,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 979,940. The business has a 50 day moving average of $149.54 and a 200 day moving average of $142.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $126.35 and a fifty-two week high of $174.91.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 31.64%. Genuine Parts’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

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.