Vest Financial LLC Purchases 11,060 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 62.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the second quarter worth about $985,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 31.3% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,136,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.61 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. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.01 and a 200-day moving average of $84.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company'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 transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction 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 $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.