Peter J. O’shea Sells 18,075 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $87.82 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.59. 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 $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,502,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.