First Hawaiian Bank Sells 364 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

First Hawaiian Bank lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Graco were worth $252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 Graco by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Graco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $876,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.9 %

Graco stock opened at $80.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

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.