Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 2,991 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 149.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Graco were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Graco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,923,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 13.8% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,855,000 after purchasing an additional 8,490 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 184,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,518,000 after purchasing an additional 6,041 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,444,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $88.75. 87,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 798,507. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.44 and a 200-day moving average of $83.78. The company has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.06.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 22.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.