K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Has $2.02 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc cut its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,055 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Graco by 48.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 45,002.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,390,000 after purchasing an additional 17,551 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 199,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,297,000 after buying an additional 57,580 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 28,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,530,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 1.2 %

Graco stock opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.13. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graco 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.