Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stake Boosted by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 397,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,042 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $33,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 244.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in 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 buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth $38,199,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Graco by 6.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after buying an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 142.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $83.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.52. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.