AIA Group Ltd Buys 5,604 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 76.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,604 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tobam boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2,330.8% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 569.7% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.4 %

Graco stock opened at $88.42 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.46. The stock has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $566.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.86 million. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. On average, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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 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.