Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Lowers Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lowered its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after acquiring an additional 726,245 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 10.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,868,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,231,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,176 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 13.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,619,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $556,330,000 after purchasing an additional 878,009 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 102,901.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,793,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 156.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares in the company, valued at $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 in the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $89.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.18. The company has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $566.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $565.86 million. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.80.

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.