Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Optas LLC

Optas LLC increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Graco Trading Up 0.9 %

Graco stock opened at $84.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.69. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.