Seilern Investment Management Ltd Buys Shares of 123,101 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 123,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,376,000. Graco accounts for about 0.6% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.07% of Graco as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Graco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Graco by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 2.3% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $85.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.87 and a 200-day moving average of $84.36. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

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.