American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 382,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 112,376 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.23% of Graco worth $32,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth about $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 1.3 %

Graco stock opened at $83.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.59. The stock has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $93.25.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. 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.