James Howe Sells 415 Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: James Howe sold 415 shares of Genuine Parts on May 5 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan at an average price of $104.33 for $43,296.95, reducing his stake by 1.6% to 25,589 shares valued at about $2.67M.
• Earnings and guidance: GPC beat Q1 estimates with $1.77 EPS on $6.26B in revenue and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of $7.50–$8.00 (sell-side consensus ~7.73).
• Dividend and valuation: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (4.0% annual yield) while trading at a high P/E (~246) and carrying a consensus "Hold" rating with a $143.71 price target.

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) insider James Howe sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.33, for a total transaction of $43,296.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,669,700.37. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE GPC traded up $1.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,340,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,634. Genuine Parts Company has a one year low of $96.08 and a one year high of $151.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 245.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.02. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 0.24%.The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Genuine Parts has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Genuine Parts Company will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Genuine Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 988.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genuine Parts

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisortrust Partners LLC lifted its stake in Genuine Parts by 35.4% in the first quarter. Advisortrust Partners LLC now owns 3,605 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Genuine Parts by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 86,780 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $9,177,000 after purchasing an additional 10,931 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Genuine Parts by 61.3% in the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 26,671 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 10,141 shares in the last quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts in the 1st quarter valued at about $16,978,000. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,384 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. 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 recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Genuine Parts from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Evercore set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Genuine Parts in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Genuine Parts in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.71.

About Genuine Parts

Genuine Parts Company NYSE: GPC is a global distributor of automotive replacement parts, industrial parts and business products with a history dating back to 1928. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company operates a broad distribution network and retail presence serving repair shops, independent retailers, industrial customers and commercial accounts. Its business model centers on stocking and delivering a wide range of parts and supplies to support aftermarket and maintenance needs across multiple end markets.

Genuine Parts conducts its operations through several well-known operating groups and subsidiaries.

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