Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 57,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Graco by 2.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 51,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,547,000 after buying an additional 21,315 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in shares of Graco by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $75.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.64 and a 52 week high of $93.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.