Walter Public Investments Inc. Has $10.41 Million Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,638 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,615 shares during the period. Graco makes up approximately 1.9% of Walter Public Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Walter Public Investments Inc. owned about 0.07% of Graco worth $10,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $155,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,053 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,709,000 after purchasing an additional 495,293 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $126,196,000 after purchasing an additional 486,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of GGG stock traded down $1.17 on Friday, hitting $87.64. 628,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 799,823. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.06. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.38 and a 200 day moving average of $83.93.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during 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 business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.