Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Holdings Lowered by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lowered its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145 over the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $84.88 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Graco 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.