Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 1,412,704 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.18% of Graco worth $174,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter valued at about $67,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.40.

Graco Stock Down 0.0 %

GGG stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,901,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,494. The company has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The company's 50 day moving average is $87.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.66.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco's payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.