Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Graco were worth $339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Graco by 5.5% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 7.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 8.8% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Graco by 6.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG opened at $91.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.86 and its 200 day moving average is $82.73. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

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.