Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,502,000 after buying an additional 286,212 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE GGG opened at $80.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.18. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, January 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s payout ratio is 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This trade represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.