Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after buying an additional 726,245 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Graco by 10.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,868,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,231,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,176 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Graco by 13.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,619,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $556,330,000 after purchasing an additional 878,009 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 102,901.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,789,042 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Graco by 156.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718,018 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anthony J. Gargano sold 1,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total transaction of $122,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $501,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $91.27 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $91.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.79. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. The business had revenue of $566.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.86 million. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is 34.69%.

Graco 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.