QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,717 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 4.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,152,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $362,808,000 after acquiring an additional 188,579 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after acquiring an additional 337,437 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Graco by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,664,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $140,295,000 after acquiring an additional 70,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $87.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.73 and its 200 day moving average is $85.26.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.