Tredje AP fonden Sells 15,836 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Tredje AP fonden cut its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,836 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,836 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Graco were worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $362,808,000 after purchasing an additional 188,579 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $196,242,000 after purchasing an additional 337,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $140,295,000 after purchasing an additional 70,927 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,052,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,417. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.52. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. 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 issued its earnings results 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 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.