Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 736 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management reduced its position in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 736 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,300,000 after buying an additional 401,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 position in Genuine Parts by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,743,970 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,511,000 after acquiring an additional 30,354 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 1.2% during the 3rd 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 holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GPC shares. StockNews.com cut Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Genuine Parts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genuine Parts news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total transaction of $194,214.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,357 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,698.46. This trade represents a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC opened at $120.10 on Wednesday. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.55 and a 200 day moving average of $130.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.