Hilltop National Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Hilltop National Bank decreased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Graco were worth $119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 1.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,044,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 27.7% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 19.0% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth about $299,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of Graco by 17.6% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 89,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $80.70 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.11.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.20.

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.