Grimes & Company Inc. Purchases 3,909 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,697 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. owned about 0.08% of Graco worth $11,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Graco by 182.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 23,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 15,296 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Graco by 60.1% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 32,272 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,559,000 after buying an additional 12,120 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Graco by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 339,435 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,910,000 after acquiring an additional 46,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Graco by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 21,971 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of GGG traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.62. The company had a trading volume of 907,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,271. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $86.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.57. The firm has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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.