Atom Investors LP Purchases Shares of 79,218 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Atom Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 79,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,000. Graco comprises about 0.7% of Atom Investors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Graco stock opened at $91.08 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco 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 directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.