Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $11.90 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 136,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $11,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $88.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $84.62 and its 200-day moving average is $82.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.03 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.