Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 133 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 6.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,209 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 148,121 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,515,000 after buying an additional 26,710 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,029,388 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $281,078,000 after buying an additional 431,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its stake in Genuine Parts by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 227,942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,501,000 after buying an additional 12,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GPC traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $138.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,017,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,291. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.92. Genuine Parts has a 52 week low of $126.35 and a 52 week high of $169.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $143.39 and its 200-day moving average is $146.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The specialty retailer reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 30.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Genuine Parts from $167.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Genuine Parts from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com raised Genuine Parts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Genuine Parts from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Genuine Parts from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.29, for a total value of $453,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,967,677.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.