Modus Advisors LLC Has $293,000 Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Modus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the quarter. Modus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $293,000 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. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $83.52. The company had a trading volume of 49,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,483. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.05 and a 200-day moving average of $84.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. 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 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. 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. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.