Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 10,696 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,696 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Graco were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Graco during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Graco by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $87.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.19.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Graco Company 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.