Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC raised its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 75.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 231,807 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 99,729 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.14% of Graco worth $19,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in Graco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 89,523 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,546,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Seeds Investor LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $534,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,914 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 3,538 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.24. 276,604 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 890,802. The company has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.06 and a 1 year high of $92.86. The business's 50 day moving average price is $82.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.70.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.