National Bank of Canada FI Sells 29,699 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,396 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 29,699 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Graco were worth $6,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in Graco by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,923,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

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Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.69. The stock had a trading volume of 978,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 804,936. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.17. The firm has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

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.