New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $3.14 Million Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,138,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

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Graco Trading Down 4.7 %

Graco stock traded down $4.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $80.63. The company had a trading volume of 138,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,195. The company has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average is $84.94 and its 200-day moving average is $85.66. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $93.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.