Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 22.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,686 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.05% of Graco worth $6,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 102,901.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,793,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,042 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Graco by 156.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,520,000 after buying an additional 2,718,018 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $116,116,000. StonePine Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 626.8% in the 1st quarter. StonePine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,643,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 452.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,465,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $98,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $543,902.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,312.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark W. Sheahan bought 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $79.04 per share, for a total transaction of $99,827.52. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 62,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,978,413.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total transaction of $543,902.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,312.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.98% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $78.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.83. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.17 and a 12-month high of $87.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $559.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.14 million. Graco had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 23.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 17th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Graco’s payout ratio is 31.97%.

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 company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.