Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 8,485 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,306 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Graco worth $28,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 567.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,009,000 after purchasing an additional 36,471 shares during the period. M&G Plc lifted its position in Graco by 2.0% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,199,000 after acquiring an additional 9,673 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 20.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,686,000 after acquiring an additional 15,480 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 95.1% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 17,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of GGG traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.62. 2,338,047 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 779,138. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's fifty day moving average is $85.13 and its 200 day moving average is $82.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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