45,242 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Purchased by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 45,242 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,813,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd 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. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd 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. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd 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, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,446,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.30. 218,765 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,822. The stock has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 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, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Company Profile

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.