Palisade Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,011,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,734,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Graco by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 66,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,678,000 after purchasing an additional 16,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

Graco Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $83.00. The company had a trading volume of 524,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,031. The firm has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.46. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total value of $232,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares in the company, valued at $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares in the company, valued at $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $464,772.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,903 shares in the company, valued at $4,144,097.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,483 shares of company stock worth $4,123,245 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.