Quest Partners LLC Buys 29,425 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7,337.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,425 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $89.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $85.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GGG. 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. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.