Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 13,988 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 705,427 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,988 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.42% of Graco worth $59,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" 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 target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.40.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 678,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,439. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.01. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.