MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 386 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 386 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth $673,000. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Graco during the second quarter worth about $220,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Graco by 5.6% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 91,794 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 421,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,437,000 after purchasing an additional 61,490 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $84.71 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.18 and a 200-day moving average of $83.70.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

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.