Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Graco by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 374,967 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 76,184 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,923,000 after purchasing an additional 19,545 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Graco by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 184,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,518,000 after purchasing an additional 6,041 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,444,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Down 0.3%

Graco stock opened at $86.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.66. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.