Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,428 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake 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 valued at $36,749,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 140,417 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Graco by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after acquiring an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Graco by 359.2% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Graco by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $84.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.44 and a 200 day moving average of $84.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.