Walter Public Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Walter Public Investments Inc. reduced its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,023 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 49,016 shares during the period. Graco makes up approximately 1.8% of Walter Public Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Walter Public Investments Inc. owned 0.07% of Graco worth $9,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 254.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG traded up $1.07 on Friday, reaching $87.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,414,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 793,318. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.22.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.