KBC Group NV Raises Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,991 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Graco were worth $2,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,502,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 54.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $64,502,000 after buying an additional 286,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Graco by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,775,000 after buying an additional 259,819 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded down $2.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,470,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,052. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $85.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.55. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. Graco's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

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.