Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 302 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 93.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 6,464 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 59.0% in the third 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 during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $2,139,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 5.6% in the third 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. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $686,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $91.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.73.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.