J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 600 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 37.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 119,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,413,000 after acquiring an additional 32,475 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at about $2,668,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $78.92 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.78. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 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.