JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 78,374 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 678,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 78,374 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.40% of Graco worth $59,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,504 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Graco by 2.8% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 71,228 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,538,000 after buying an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,310 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,044,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Graco by 27.7% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,664 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 4,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in Graco by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 71,585 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,675,000 after acquiring an additional 19,785 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.08. 470,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,577. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.09. The firm has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 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 the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Corporate insiders own 2.63% 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.