UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $97.24 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 43,923 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.66% of Graco worth $97,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $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. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $91.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.