GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Increases Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Graco were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Graco during the third quarter valued at about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $90.22 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Graco

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.