Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 46,115 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 46,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,887,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Graco by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Graco by 359.2% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Price Performance

Graco stock opened at $84.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.52. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.