DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 76,768 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 60.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,833 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 76,768 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main's holdings in Graco were worth $4,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 119,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,413,000 after buying an additional 32,475 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Graco by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 15,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of GGG traded up $3.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $86.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 773,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,118. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.49.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Graco's dividend payout ratio 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.