5,776 Griffon Corporation $GFF Shares Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,776 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Griffon were worth $2,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Griffon during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Griffon in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Griffon by 2,768.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 459 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 73.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GFF. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 target price on Griffon in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Griffon from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Griffon presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.50.

Griffon Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $102.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.69. Griffon Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.01 and a 52-week high of $109.00.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.17. Griffon had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 249.31%. The firm had revenue of $481.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $457.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.40 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert Mehmel sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.34, for a total value of $692,713.26. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 726,272 shares in the company, valued at $75,779,220.48. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kevin Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 16,379 shares of company stock worth $1,727,837 over the last three months. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) is a diversified manufacturer and holding company that develops, manufactures and distributes products for the home, building and consumer markets. The company operates through its Home and Building Products and Consumer and Professional Products businesses.

Its Home and Building Products operations include garage doors, rolling steel doors, security grilles, shutters and related building products sold under brands such as Clopay, Cornell, Cookson and Wayne Dalton.