First Merchants Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

First Merchants Corp lessened its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 911 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its position in Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Graco by 25.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $85.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.80. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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.