Harfst & Associates Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Harfst & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Graco by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 34,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,899,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Graco by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 4,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Graco by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 81,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,863,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.