Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 9,969 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,969 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $83.35 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $93.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.03 and its 200 day moving average is $85.62. The stock has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on 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 target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.