Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $221,000 Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the second quarter valued at $27,502,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Graco by 54.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,502,000 after buying an additional 286,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,775,000 after acquiring an additional 259,819 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $90.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

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.