Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 13,962 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,650,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,962 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.99% of Graco worth $137,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,444,864,000 after buying an additional 183,335 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $356,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,093 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $199,667,000 after acquiring an additional 62,761 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth $177,434,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Graco by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Graco stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.64. 628,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 799,823. The company has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.06. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.93.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.