Truist Financial Corp Lowers Position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,609,017 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 122,857 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $222,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPC. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 13.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Genuine Parts by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Genuine Parts by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,099 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 51.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 18.2% during the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GPC. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on 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. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up from $140.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.10.

Insider Transactions at Genuine Parts

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,383.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of GPC stock traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $159.93. 1,000,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,068,926. Genuine Parts has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $174.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $152.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.98.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.59%.

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.