Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Holdings Lifted by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,987 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Graco worth $9,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graco by 428.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,325,000 after buying an additional 95,378 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 774.4% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 53,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,256,000 after acquiring an additional 47,540 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 857,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,965,000 after acquiring an additional 14,527 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth $476,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,090,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $84.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $82.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.99. The firm has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

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.