Jane Street Group LLC Has $5.71 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,553 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, 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 Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $87.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

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.