First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 3,514 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,514 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned 0.19% of Graco worth $27,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Graco by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its position in Graco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Optas LLC grew its position in Graco by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Graco by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Graco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Insider Activity at Graco

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

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $85.11. 230,923 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,143. The stock's 50-day moving average is $81.58 and its 200-day moving average is $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Graco's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio 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.