Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Graco in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $86.07 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.13.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.