Legal & General Group Plc Sells 255,336 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 648,892 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 255,336 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.38% of Graco worth $54,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.27. 809,596 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 806,289. The company has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.10.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

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.