Natixis Advisors L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 161,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.10% of Graco worth $13,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 5,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $340,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian E. Rothe sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.04, for a total value of $1,350,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,583 shares in the company, valued at $2,303,493.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,483 shares of company stock valued at $4,123,245 over the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.25.

Graco Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE GGG opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.46. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

About Graco

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.