21,145 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Purchased by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 71.7% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 4,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 72.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 4.3% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 42,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 17.1% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,788,000 after buying an additional 18,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter worth about $145,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $90.56 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.84. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 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 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 business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230. 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.