Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 1,260 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,260 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Graco by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 165.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Insider Transactions at Graco

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 value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $87.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.89.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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