Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,839,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 72,023 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 2.87% of Graco worth $407,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Natixis raised its holdings in Graco by 570.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 2,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Graco by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 95,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,021,000 after purchasing an additional 7,872 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $688,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Graco by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,229,000 after buying an additional 9,772 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Graco by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,091,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,044,000 after buying an additional 151,067 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.2 %

Graco stock opened at $78.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.03 and a 200-day moving average of $84.89. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a 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 note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

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.