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

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $11,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.52. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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.