Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. NovaPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in Graco by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Graco by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its position in shares of Graco by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 8,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 5,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $85.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.76.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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 analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s 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.