Graco Inc. $GGG Stock Position Lowered by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,389,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,826 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.84% of Graco worth $117,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 398,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,652,000 after buying an additional 98,141 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Graco by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 172,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,126,000 after purchasing an additional 60,486 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in Graco by 40.5% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 45,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after buying an additional 13,130 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 20,706.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 556,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,605,000 after buying an additional 553,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 294.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 297,787 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,410,000 after acquiring an additional 222,279 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, Director Andrea Helen Simon bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.53 per share, for a total transaction of $99,857.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,857.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $73.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.93. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.51 and a one year high of $95.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $540.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.35 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 22.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.44%.

About Graco

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.