Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Invests $1.85 Million in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,145 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,850,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230 over the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $90.56. The stock had a trading volume of 472,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,550. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $86.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.90.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) 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 analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

About Graco

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.