Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by State Street Corp

State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 4.42% of Graco worth $652,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 134.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $330,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Graco by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $137,361,000 after purchasing an additional 91,794 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Graco by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43,923 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Graco by 32.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of GGG traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.39. 669,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,591. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company's 50 day moving average is $86.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.24. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Graco's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.