SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGGFree Report) by 71.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,653 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Graco by 182.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 23,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 15,296 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 15.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 219,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,387,000 after purchasing an additional 29,926 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the second quarter worth $828,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 43.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,154,000 after purchasing an additional 38,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 17.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 139,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,028,000 after buying an additional 21,141 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock worth $2,776,150 in the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Graco

Graco Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $82.47 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.25 and a 200 day moving average of $84.65. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGGGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a positive change from Graco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 38.87%.

Graco Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Graco (NYSE:GGG)

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