Harvey Investment Co. LLC Has $3.17 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Harvey Investment Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $985,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Graco by 19.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.6% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 440,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,581,000 after purchasing an additional 11,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $84.26 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.44 and its 200-day moving average is $84.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,882 shares of company stock worth $2,492,145. 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.