Jeffrey P. Johnson Sells 6,463 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) insider Jeffrey P. Johnson sold 6,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.52, for a total transaction of $507,474.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,421,164.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Graco Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $78.94 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.48 and a 12-month high of $80.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.13. Graco had a return on equity of 26.12% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm had revenue of $529.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $501.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Graco

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graco by 102,901.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,793,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,042 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter worth $116,116,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,868,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,231,577,000 after buying an additional 1,538,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StonePine Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 626.8% during the 1st quarter. StonePine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,643,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $120,010,000 after buying an additional 1,417,574 shares in the last quarter. 85.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Graco from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graco from $75.00 to $83.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Graco in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Graco Company Profile

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Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Process, and Contractor. The Industrial segment markets equipment and pre-engineered packages for moving and applying paints, coatings, sealants, adhesives, and other fluids.