AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 29,209 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,209 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Graco worth $19,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,239 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Graco by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 241,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,794 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $4,880,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 68,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.50.

Graco Price Performance

GGG traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $84.54. 1,292,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 741,922. The stock has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.06. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $85.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.12.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. Graco's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 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, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Graco's payout ratio is 39.01%.

About Graco

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.