Focus Financial Network Inc. Acquires 1,463 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Graco by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its stake in Graco by 53.7% in the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its position in Graco by 13.1% during the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 167,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,618,000 after purchasing an additional 19,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.1 %

Graco stock opened at $85.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.77. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

About Graco

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.