Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 70,927 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,927 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.99% of Graco worth $140,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Graco in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. 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. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $87.13 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

About Graco

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.