Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Amundi

Amundi reduced its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,676,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 89,972 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Graco were worth $137,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 142.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Graco by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $86.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.46.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GGG. 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. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

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.