7,572 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Bought by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,572 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value 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 trade represents a 55.46 % 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded down $1.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $88.67. 599,538 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 745,781. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $87.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.45.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. 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 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.