Oak Asset Management LLC Acquires 4,470 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC)

Oak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) by 61.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,470 shares during the quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $1,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 7,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 5.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.8% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $138.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush dropped their target price on Genuine Parts from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Genuine Parts to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Genuine Parts from $162.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.57.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GPC opened at $116.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.94 and a 200 day moving average of $130.86. The company has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.95. Genuine Parts has a 12-month low of $112.74 and a 12-month high of $164.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Genuine Parts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wendy B. Needham sold 1,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,371,698.46. This represents a 12.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.