Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,850,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 962,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,280,000 after buying an additional 33,563 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

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 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 approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $90.56 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $86.16 and its 200-day moving average is $82.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.