Fiera Capital Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,859,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 281,860 shares during the quarter. Graco comprises about 1.6% of Fiera Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $493,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Graco by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $362,808,000 after buying an additional 188,579 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Port Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 0.3% in the third quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 783,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of 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 Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $85.17 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.01 and its 200 day moving average is $84.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.