Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Graco were worth $8,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $84.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.25. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.28 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its 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). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued 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 36.04%.

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.