Insider Selling: Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Insider Sells 18,075 Shares of Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) 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 transaction 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 represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,627,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,671. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's fifty day moving average is $85.31 and its 200 day moving average is $82.55.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Graco's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth $30,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.