Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stake Increased by Running Oak Capital LLC

Running Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 156,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,905 shares during the quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Graco worth $13,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Graco by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco 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 transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Stock Down 0.5 %

Graco stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.57.

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

Graco Increases Dividend

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

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.