Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,735 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $84.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.66.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.