Cerity Partners LLC Has $1.17 Million Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 93.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the second quarter valued at $27,502,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 286,212 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 valued at $84,775,000 after acquiring an additional 259,819 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $90.37 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.73 and its 200-day moving average is $83.11.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly 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). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.