True Vision MN LLC Sells 270 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

True Vision MN LLC lessened its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Graco accounts for 1.3% of True Vision MN LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. True Vision MN LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 13.1% during the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 167,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,618,000 after purchasing an additional 19,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $85.88 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $85.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.76.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. 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. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction 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 approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % 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 in the last three months. Corporate 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.