Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 706 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Values First Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Graco makes up about 1.1% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.12 and a 200-day moving average of $84.77. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, 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 posted 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th were issued 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 was Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.