Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 4,735 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,758 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,735 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Graco were worth $2,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its position in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,446,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded 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, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded up $0.75 on Tuesday, reaching $84.06. 814,963 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,753. The stock has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.