Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 935 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of 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 during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $82.13 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.48. The stock has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.00 and a 200-day moving average of $85.51.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.