Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Holdings Lifted by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Graco Trading Down 0.5 %

Graco stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.52. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.