Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 4,611 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,611 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Graco by 16.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Graco by 24.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,758,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Graco by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 77,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,026,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,112,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $464,772.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,144,097.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Graco news, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $464,772.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,144,097.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $89.35 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $566.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.86 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.