BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $261,000 Investment in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter valued at $30,000. National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on GGG shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. This represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $87.13 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.22. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.