Bridges Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 428.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 95,378 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Graco worth $9,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $152,941,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $111,428,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Graco by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $109,136,000 after purchasing an additional 856,460 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $70,891,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE GGG traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,883,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,970. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.04. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

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.