3,314 Shares in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Graco by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,923,000 after purchasing an additional 19,545 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.56. The company had a trading volume of 65,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,771. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.67. 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 $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Graco's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.00.

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.