Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Buys Shares of 11,890 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,890 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $993,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,444,864,000 after buying an additional 183,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $356,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,093 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $199,667,000 after purchasing an additional 62,761 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $177,434,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased 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 valued at $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG traded down $1.21 on Monday, hitting $87.58. 636,248 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,526. The company has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.80. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.87%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

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

Graco 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.