Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Holdings Raised by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $44,069,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 286,212 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 0.7 %

GGG opened at $86.99 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.28 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.33. The company has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

About Graco

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.