Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by Running Oak Capital LLC

Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 156,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,905 shares during the quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $13,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth $209,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Graco by 182.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 23,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 15,296 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 32,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after buying an additional 12,120 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Graco by 18.4% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 21,971 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 15.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 219,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,387,000 after buying an additional 29,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value 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. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.57. The firm has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Graco Company 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.