Graco (NYSE:GGG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by William Blair

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by William Blair in a research note issued on Friday, RTT News reports.

GGG has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.60.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.56. 1,086,309 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,190. The stock has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day moving average is $91.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.84. Graco has a 52-week low of $69.78 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Graco will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graco

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,941,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Graco by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $109,136,000 after buying an additional 856,460 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,891,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,245,193,000 after buying an additional 726,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,118,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $270,579,000 after buying an additional 498,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

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.