Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 172 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Graco were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Graco during the first quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased 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, October 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $89.62 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.47. The firm has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.