Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,154 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,872 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Graco worth $8,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Graco by 32.0% in 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 buying an additional 374,967 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GGG traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.43. 1,232,411 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,766. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $82.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.66.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco 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.