CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 497 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Graco were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the third 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 last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GGG. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,882 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,145 over the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $84.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.