CWS Financial Advisors LLC Buys 627 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 13.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $90.56 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.90.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’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 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 ownership of the stock. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.