Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Graco worth $10,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,061,000 after buying an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Graco by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Graco Trading Up 2.7 %
Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.62. The company had a trading volume of 944,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,070. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The business's 50-day moving average is $84.71 and its 200-day moving average is $85.30. The stock has a market cap of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.
Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.
Graco Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GGG. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on GGG
About Graco
(
Free Report)
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.
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