Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 7,479 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 48.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,479 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Graco were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded up $0.43 on Wednesday, hitting $90.14. 219,945 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,610. The firm has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 3.09 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.36.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.