Nordea Investment Management AB Increases Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,447,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 44,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,546,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $80.70 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.18.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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 given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 1.36%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GGG. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.