Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Position Decreased by NewEdge Wealth LLC

NewEdge Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,021 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Graco by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 34,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Graco by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 4,277 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Graco by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 81,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,863,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Graco by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,295,000 after purchasing an additional 70,927 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $87.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.19. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.