Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Position Lowered by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 459,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 44,241 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $38,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $155,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,053 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,199,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $78.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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

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.