By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,199,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.
Graco Trading Up 0.4 %
GGG stock opened at $84.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.59. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.47.
Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Graco Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
GGG has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Graco
About Graco
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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