Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Position Reduced by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,735 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in Graco by 3.4% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after acquiring an additional 140,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Graco by 25.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $84.15 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.66. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.