Caroline M. Chambers Sells 12,992 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 12,992 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $1,047,025.28. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,546,001.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.75. The company had a trading volume of 196,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,653. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $65.23 and a one year high of $87.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.54.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. Graco had a return on equity of 25.08% and a net margin of 23.93%. The firm had revenue of $539.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 16th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 13th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Graco in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 18.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 86,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,176,000 after purchasing an additional 13,302 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 8.3% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 96,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 8.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 74.3% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.94% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.