Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,461 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,342 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Graco were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $362,808,000 after acquiring an additional 188,579 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Port Capital LLC increased its stake in Graco by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 783,483 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,563,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the business'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 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 sale 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE GGG traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $85.84. 601,270 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 792,719. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $84.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.