M&T Bank Corp Raises Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 33.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,047 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,906 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Graco were worth $4,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after buying 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% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $137,361,000 after acquiring an additional 91,794 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Graco by 4.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.97. 400,024 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,346. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.45. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.