Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID Decreases Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lowered its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 563,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,122 shares during the quarter. Graco comprises 3.0% of Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID’s holdings in Graco were worth $48,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after purchasing an additional 726,245 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 874.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 440,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,094,000 after buying an additional 395,150 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Graco by 429.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 226,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,683,000 after acquiring an additional 184,018 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $12,376,000. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 154,542.0% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 125,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,129,000 after purchasing an additional 125,179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.60.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.56 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $91.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.43% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $122,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528. Corporate 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.