Portfolio Design Labs LLC Grows Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 28,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Graco by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 18,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Graco by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Graco by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 28,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.79 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

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.