Entropy Technologies LP Has $882,000 Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Entropy Technologies LP decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,342 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco during the third quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $85.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $85.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.76. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.