Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 24,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,061,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 26,699 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business'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. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Stock Down 1.3%

Graco stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.64. The company had a trading volume of 628,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,270. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.29 and a 200-day moving average of $83.91. The firm has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.06.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Graco had a net margin of 22.70% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.87%.

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.