GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 1,328 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Graco by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,502,000 after purchasing an additional 286,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.20.

Graco Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of GGG opened at $83.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.12. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

Graco Profile

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.