Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 14,600 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 44.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 1,010.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,223,000 after buying an additional 50,855 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Graco by 567.4% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after acquiring an additional 36,471 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter worth about $1,606,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Graco by 14.5% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,440,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,618,000 after purchasing an additional 182,470 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc boosted its holdings in Graco by 2.0% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,673 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG stock opened at $85.25 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.79 and its 200-day moving average is $83.28.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Graco 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.