GW&K Investment Management LLC Has $6.05 Million Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Graco by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 122,377.8% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 99,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,230,000 after purchasing an additional 99,126 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Graco by 1.8% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 313,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GGG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $83.01 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.78 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $88.04 and its 200 day moving average is $86.13.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Graco news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total transaction of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian E. Rothe sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.04, for a total value of $1,350,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,583 shares in the company, valued at $2,303,493.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,088 shares of company stock worth $4,000,485 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco 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.