Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 13,400 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the first quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Tobam boosted its holdings in Graco by 90.2% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five 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, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.80.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $83.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.21. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

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.