Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in Graco by 359.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after purchasing an additional 443,141 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 142.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after purchasing an additional 383,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Graco by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after purchasing an additional 374,967 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total transaction of $749,919.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $86.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.68 and its 200-day moving average is $85.13.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.28%. Graco’s payout ratio is 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.