Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Acquires Shares of 325,990 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 325,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $27,478,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.19% of Graco as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 73,567 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,201,000 after buying an additional 14,322 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $255,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth $314,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 322,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,164,000 after purchasing an additional 14,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $83.28. 587,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,290. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.58 and its 200 day moving average is $84.44.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.