Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,475,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 32,160 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.89% of Graco worth $125,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $29,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Graco by 316.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 116.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $96.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Graco from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $88.61 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.15 and its 200-day moving average is $85.30. The company has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Graco had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $593.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.19%.

Graco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback 15,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J Kevin Gilligan sold 12,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $1,146,330.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 1,469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $133,238.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,701. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 19,394 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,326 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Graco Company Profile

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.