Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $7.58 Million Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 110.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,931 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,200 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Graco worth $7,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 165.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 48.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 45,002.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,390,000 after purchasing an additional 17,551 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 3.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Graco by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 98,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,585,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of GGG traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.13. 1,414,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 791,708. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average is $84.68 and its 200 day moving average is $85.13.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

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.