Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Graco by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $75.70 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.64 and a 1 year high of $93.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.58.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. 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.