Strs Ohio Has $2.10 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graco by 102,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,793,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,424,000 after buying an additional 4,789,042 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Graco by 156.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,453,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $116,116,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 10.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,868,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,231,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Graco by 452.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,465,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $98,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,165 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at $4,442,917.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $253,283.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 50,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,442,917.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Graco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.80.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $88.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.46. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $566.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.86 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 24.61%. On average, analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 34.69%.

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.