Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Graco comprises 2.3% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $244,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter valued at about $67,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GGG. 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.3 %

Graco stock opened at $85.84 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $84.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.80.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.