Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 300 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Graco by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,446,000. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,376,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.55 and its 200 day moving average is $84.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

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 business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.