400 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,808,000 after acquiring an additional 188,579 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% in the 4th 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 17.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Graco by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $140,295,000 after acquiring an additional 70,927 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $87.13 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.49 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.73 and its 200-day moving average is $85.22. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued 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, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given 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 1.26%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.