Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 139,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,141 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of Graco worth $11,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 43.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,154,000 after purchasing an additional 38,853 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the second quarter worth about $828,000. Dundas Partners LLP increased its holdings in Graco by 66.3% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 7,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,080,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 219,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,387,000 after acquiring an additional 29,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five 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 an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Graco Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $86.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.57. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.