Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 1,200 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 24,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 93.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Graco by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,422 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,139,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 55,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Graco stock opened at $91.08 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.95. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.13 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.