Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 34.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 975,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 247,589 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.58% of Graco worth $82,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,444,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,093 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after acquiring an additional 337,437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $75.70 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $75.64 and a one year high of $93.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 yield of 1.45%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

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.