First Trust Advisors LP Buys 151,067 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,091,987 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 151,067 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.65% of Graco worth $92,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 2.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Graco by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,435 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 119,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,413,000 after buying an additional 32,475 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,232,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,844. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.67. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.06 and a 1-year high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.