Strs Ohio Purchases 913 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 18,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 3.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 3.2% in the first quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,336. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.80.

Graco Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $88.42 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 24.61%. The firm had revenue of $566.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.86 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 34.69%.

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.