Jennison Associates LLC Sells 80,024 Shares of Griffon Corporation $GFF

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF - Free Report) by 24.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,407 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 80,024 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Griffon worth $18,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Griffon by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 391,441 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $28,450,000 after purchasing an additional 158,592 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Griffon by 12.6% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,959 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Griffon by 8.6% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 22,914 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Griffon by 2.8% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 93,863 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,822,000 after buying an additional 2,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Griffon by 3,777.8% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GFF. Wall Street Zen cut Griffon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Griffon from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Griffon from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Griffon in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.00.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other Griffon news, CEO Ronald J. Kramer sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.92, for a total value of $9,492,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,784,297 shares in the company, valued at $169,365,471.24. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert F. Mehmel sold 4,166 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.76, for a total value of $407,268.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 785,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,829,584. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock worth $12,309,525 in the last three months. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Griffon Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of GFF stock opened at $88.86 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $89.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.43. Griffon Corporation has a 1 year low of $65.01 and a 1 year high of $98.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 683.61 and a beta of 1.41.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. Griffon had a return on equity of 298.42% and a net margin of 0.31%.The firm had revenue of $421.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Griffon Corporation will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Griffon's dividend payout ratio is 676.92%.

Griffon Profile

Griffon Corporation NYSE: GFF is a diversified management and holding company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products for residential, commercial and defense applications. Operating through three primary platforms—Home & Building Products, Defense Electronics and Specialty Industrial—Griffon's portfolio spans consumer and industrial brands with a focus on long-lived products and recurring aftermarket opportunities.

In the Home & Building Products segment, Griffon's Clopay Building Products division is a leading North American manufacturer of residential and commercial garage doors, specializing in steel, fiberglass and composite designs as well as decorative carriage-house styles.

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