Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 199,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,352 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.12% of Graco worth $16,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GGG stock traded up $0.24 on Friday, reaching $85.26. 582,362 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 591,196. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $86.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.28. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock 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.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Graco 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.