Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 154,853 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank significantly increased its stake in Graco Inc. by 225.4% during the first quarter, owning about 0.13% of the company valued at $18.67 million.
• Graco reported earnings of $0.75 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.03, and revealed revenues of $571.81 million, which was below the consensus of $590.57 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.30%, with an ex-dividend date of July 21st.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 225.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,569 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 154,853 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.13% of Graco worth $18,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 457.2% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,269 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,442,000 after buying an additional 14,170 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.9% in the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 190,845 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,937,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 365.8% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 115,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,631,000 after acquiring an additional 90,564 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Graco by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 237,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,839,000 after acquiring an additional 29,209 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents 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 through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

Graco Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of GGG stock traded down $1.40 on Friday, reaching $82.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 666,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,640. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.17. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.04.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The business had revenue of $571.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $590.57 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.