LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,335 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 23,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 6.0% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 5.5% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 3.9% in the first quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.4%

GGG opened at $83.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.08. The firm has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.04. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%. Graco’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.