Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Graco worth $11,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,808,000 after buying an additional 188,579 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,237,000 after buying an additional 43,923 shares during the period. Finally, Port Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 783,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,563,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. BNP Paribas upgraded 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.62 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

About Graco

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.