Peter J. O’shea Sells 18,075 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $87.82 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.59. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 567.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after buying an additional 36,471 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc raised its holdings in Graco by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after acquiring an additional 9,673 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,485 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at $876,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Graco by 95.1% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 17,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 8,396 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.