Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Invests $340,000 in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 3,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after purchasing an additional 726,245 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 4.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,845,000 after purchasing an additional 69,151 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 8.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 994,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,449,000 after buying an additional 79,954 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 988,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 13,980 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Graco by 9.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 908,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,233,000 after buying an additional 80,631 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,481,535.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,481,535.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,483 shares of company stock worth $4,123,245 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GGG. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.46. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

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.