Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 164,354 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 164,354 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $13,853,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.10% of Graco as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 19,545 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Graco by 3.4% in 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 183,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Up 0.3%

GGG traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $83.99. The stock had a trading volume of 108,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,810. The stock's 50 day moving average is $81.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.43. The company has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Graco Company 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.