Graco (NYSE:GGG) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $83.95 and traded as high as $84.23. Graco shares last traded at $83.77, with a volume of 354,606 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 note 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.40.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50 day moving average price is $86.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.98.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Graco's payout ratio is 38.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, 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 transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GGG. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Graco by 3.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,602 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,664 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,071 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

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.