Verition Fund Management LLC Has $3.45 Million Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 1,041.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,426 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,973 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $3,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Graco during the third quarter worth $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.37. The company had a trading volume of 697,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,023. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $86.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.11.

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). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Graco's payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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 decreased their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Company 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.