23,610 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Purchased by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,610 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,066,000. Graco makes up 1.1% of Values First Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GGG. Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at about $11,708,000. Harvey Investment Co. LLC grew its position in Graco by 576.2% during the third quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 36,380 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 45,002.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,390,000 after buying an additional 17,551 shares in the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $82.14. The company had a trading volume of 689,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,740. The company's fifty day moving average is $83.90 and its 200 day moving average is $82.79. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.80 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.