Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 83,400 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 5,832.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 83,400 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned 0.05% of Graco worth $7,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 244.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth about $27,502,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Graco by 54.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $64,502,000 after buying an additional 286,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Graco by 32.1% in the 2nd 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 and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

GGG remained flat at $90.71 on Tuesday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 166,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,981. The stock has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $86.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.05.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.