Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 93.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,380 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 6,464 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth about $67,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of GGG traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $89.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 606,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,415. The stock has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company's fifty day moving average price is $86.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.16.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco's payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.