Empirical Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Graco by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 199,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,793,000 after acquiring an additional 8,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $247,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.26. The company had a trading volume of 582,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 591,196. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.32. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's payout ratio is currently 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.