Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 339,524 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,218 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Graco worth $28,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GGG. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 31.3% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Graco by 5.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 53.7% in the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 13.1% in the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 167,039 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,618,000 after acquiring an additional 19,364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 601,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,662. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.80. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th 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 1.28%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % 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 stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco 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.