Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Position Increased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 502,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Graco were worth $43,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GGG shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $88.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.63. The firm has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during 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 was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.