Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,167 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Graco were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Graco by 359.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,199,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GGG opened at $84.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.06 and a 200-day moving average of $85.58.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.