WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC cut its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 121,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the quarter. Graco accounts for approximately 1.0% of WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $10,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. 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 shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG 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 $84.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.80.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company 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.