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

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 43,923 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $97,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,361,000 after buying an additional 91,794 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after acquiring an additional 259,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 962,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,280,000 after acquiring an additional 33,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $91.08 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.53 and a 200-day moving average of $83.00.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released 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 analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

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.