Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam grew its stake in shares of Graco by 90.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $81.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $73.03 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.51.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports 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. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Graco Company 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.