Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,841 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Free Report) by 33.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,841 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,844,189 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,103,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 32,858 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $383,511,000 after purchasing an additional 30,354 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,057,593 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $287,405,000 after purchasing an additional 25,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Genuine Parts by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,840,807 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $257,124,000 after acquiring an additional 114,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of Genuine Parts stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total value of $194,214.24. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,371,698.46. The trade was a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GPC shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Genuine Parts from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northcoast Research cut Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Genuine Parts to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Genuine Parts in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Eight research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.63.

Genuine Parts Price Performance

GPC stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.41. The company had a trading volume of 618,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,591,497. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.27. Genuine Parts has a fifty-two week low of $112.74 and a fifty-two week high of $164.45. The company has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 25.28%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Genuine Parts's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.82%.

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.