Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $4.11 Million in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 47,400 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.5% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 0.9% in the third quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 18,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 3.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,270 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 3.2% in the first quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Graco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.80.

Graco Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $89.33. 441,134 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,184. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.18. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 24.61% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $566.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $565.86 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.69%.

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.