Pinebridge Investments L.P. Purchases 17,405 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,150 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,405 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Graco were worth $4,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Graco by 2.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,435 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 119,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 32,475 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $2,668,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 244.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $80.38 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The business's fifty day moving average is $82.47 and its 200-day moving average is $84.70.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.

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