Swedbank AB Purchases Shares of 11,988 Graco Inc. $GGG

Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 236.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,279,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $108,711,000 after acquiring an additional 899,174 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 116.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,201,000 after acquiring an additional 396,125 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 877.5% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 334,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,300,000 after acquiring an additional 300,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 299.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,263,000 after acquiring an additional 256,593 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 508,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,688,000 after acquiring an additional 246,984 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, April 24th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Graco from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.25.

Graco Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:GGG opened at $77.59 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.39. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.42 and a 1-year high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $540.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.35 million. Graco had a return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 22.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andrea Helen Simon purchased 1,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.53 per share, with a total value of $99,857.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,857.20. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.