Marshall Wace LLP Buys 15,296 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 182.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,296 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Graco in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 90.2% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Stock Down 0.5 %

GGG stock opened at $85.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.70 and a 200-day moving average of $83.59. The company has a market cap of $14.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.88 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 issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.80.

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.