O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,040 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Graco by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Graco by 359.2% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after buying an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,923,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 5.6 %

GGG opened at $75.70 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.62 and a 200-day moving average of $85.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.64 and a 1-year high of $93.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.