Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 85,831 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7,373.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,831 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $7,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,085,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,245,193,000 after acquiring an additional 726,245 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Graco by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,845,000 after acquiring an additional 69,151 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 994,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,449,000 after acquiring an additional 79,954 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 988,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after acquiring an additional 13,980 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 908,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,233,000 after acquiring an additional 80,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GGG. StockNews.com cut Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $464,772.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 44,903 shares in the company, valued at $4,144,097.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were 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 owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,378 shares of company stock worth $4,376,528. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.12. 753,447 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 684,118. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $90.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.06. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 23.01% and a net margin of 23.15%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.