Kestra Investment Management LLC Makes New $221,000 Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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. increased its position in Graco by 244.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,361,000 after acquiring an additional 91,794 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,923 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Graco by 32.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after buying an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $90.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 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 50 day moving average price is $86.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.00.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.