Caroline M. Chambers Sells 8,280 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $90.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.73 and its 200 day moving average is $83.11. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 134.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Graco by 6.3% during the third 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the second quarter valued at $27,502,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.