California Public Employees Retirement System Has $26.43 Million Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 304,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,635 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Graco were worth $26,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tobam raised its holdings in Graco by 2,330.8% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 3,063.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 370.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian E. Rothe sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.04, for a total transaction of $1,350,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,303,493.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,378 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,528 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $82.56 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.78 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.96. The company has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The firm had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.17%.

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.