SG Americas Securities LLC Has $740,000 Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 71.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,785 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,653 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $1.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.88. The company had a trading volume of 796,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,628. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % 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. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.