Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $2.37 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 547.2% in the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 21,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 18,327 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Graco by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 12,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $82.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.14 and its 200-day moving average is $84.84. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. 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 is 35.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares in the company, valued at $4,481,535.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.