Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stake Reduced by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,228 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,394 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Graco were worth $104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 142.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $23,446,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.7 %

GGG traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 661,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,891. The firm has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.77. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Graco's payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.