US Bancorp DE Buys 1,230 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 225,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Graco were worth $18,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $87.13 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.26. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend 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.