80,031 Shares in Graco Inc. $GGG Acquired by Nykredit A S

Nykredit A S bought a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 80,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,051,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $1,396,470,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Graco by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,813,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,503,000 after buying an additional 242,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Graco by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,652,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $380,642,000 after buying an additional 261,126 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Graco by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,057,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,556,000 after acquiring an additional 206,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Graco by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $176,016,000 after acquiring an additional 53,126 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $77.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.51 and a 12 month high of $95.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.96.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.53% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

About Graco

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.