Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 183,335 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Graco worth $1,444,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Graco by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Graco by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Graco by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $84.43 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.58. The company has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.47.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

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.