Holocene Advisors LP Has $9.03 Million Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 65.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 103,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,999 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $9,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 7.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $91.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 3.14 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $86.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.05.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.