Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 13.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,897 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,671 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.13% of Graco worth $19,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Graco by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 3.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Graco by 7.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 8.8% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Graco by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.52. The company had a trading volume of 671,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,684. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $83.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.79 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 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 analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four 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.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.25.

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.