Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 900 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,808,000 after purchasing an additional 188,579 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after purchasing an additional 337,437 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,111,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43,923 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GGG. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $86.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.03. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly 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, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend 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.