Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 142,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Graco worth $12,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Graco by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,185,000 after acquiring an additional 13,168 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,730,000 after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 124,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,863,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 498.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Graco by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of 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 lowered 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, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $88.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.63. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 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.