Griffon Corporation $GFF Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Lowers Holdings

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its holdings in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) by 79.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Griffon were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GFF. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Griffon during the second quarter valued at about $590,633,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 547,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,781,000 after acquiring an additional 87,100 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 415,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,201,000 after acquiring an additional 124,750 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,177,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 391,441 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $28,450,000 after acquiring an additional 158,592 shares during the last quarter. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $369,565.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,287,165.18. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 7,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.62, for a total transaction of $833,301.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 715,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,979,402.18. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 17,483 shares of company stock worth $1,868,425 in the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Griffon from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price objective on Griffon in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens increased their price objective on Griffon from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.50.

Griffon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $101.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.78. Griffon Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.01 and a 1-year high of $109.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 1.50.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation is a diversified management and holding company whose businesses make products for homes, buildings, gardens and outdoor spaces. Its operations are organized into Home and Building Products and Consumer and Professional Products.

The Home and Building Products segment includes Clopay, which makes residential and commercial garage doors, and CornellCookson, which produces rolling steel doors and security grilles. The Consumer and Professional Products segment sells lawn and garden tools, landscaping products and home organization products through brands including AMES, True Temper and ClosetMaid.

Griffon’s businesses serve customers primarily in North America, as well as in markets including Australia and Europe.