Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the third quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Graco by 60.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.
Graco Trading Down 0.5 %
NYSE GGG opened at $85.62 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.52.
Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.
Graco Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 38.87%.
Insider Transactions at Graco
In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.63% 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 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.
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