Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 635 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Graco were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 28,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Graco by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 63,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,392,000 after purchasing an additional 18,059 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $2,721,000. Carlson Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 26,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 397,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,489,000 after buying an additional 146,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $83.86 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.04 and its 200-day moving average is $85.56. The stock has a market cap of $14.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. 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.