Trust Co. of Vermont Has $205,000 Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 102.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Graco were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of 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 stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 60.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $85.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.36. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its 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). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

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.