Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Makes New $418,000 Investment in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,018 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPC. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 22,476 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Genuine Parts from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.78.

Genuine Parts Stock Performance

Genuine Parts stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $154.93. 954,208 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,010,012. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.79. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty retailer reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 31.64% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a boost from Genuine Parts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.92, for a total value of $503,490.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,397 shares in the company, valued at $2,230,383.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company 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.