Marshall Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Graco by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.62 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.55 and its 200 day moving average is $84.57.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

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.