47,400 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 47,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,245,193,000 after purchasing an additional 726,245 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,538,176 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Graco by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,619,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $556,330,000 after buying an additional 878,009 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 102,901.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Graco by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718,018 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.80.

Graco Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $89.47 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.06.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Graco news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian E. Rothe sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.04, for a total value of $1,350,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,303,493.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.