Walter Public Investments Inc. Trims Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Walter Public Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 118,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 49,016 shares during the period. Graco comprises about 1.8% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Walter Public Investments Inc. owned about 0.07% of Graco worth $9,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 244.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 374,967 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Down 1.2 %

Graco stock opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.65 and its 200 day moving average is $85.13. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by 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.