Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 379,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,693 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.22% of Graco worth $32,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 18,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 3,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 12,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

Graco Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE GGG opened at $82.56 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.02. The firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.