Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 7,373.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,995 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 85,831 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned about 0.05% of Graco worth $7,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Graco by 16.2% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,198 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Graco by 24.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,758,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its holdings in Graco by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 77,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $2,026,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $4,112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.25.

Graco Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of GGG traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.12. 753,447 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 684,118. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.06. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Graco's payout ratio is 35.17%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.82, for a total transaction of $232,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,481,535.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm'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 owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. 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 three months. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Company 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.

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