Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Raises Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the quarter. Graco accounts for approximately 1.1% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC owned about 0.12% of Graco worth $15,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Graco by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 7.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 8.8% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 6.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on 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 lowered their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $81.35 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.34. The company has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.78 and a 12-month high of $94.77.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 22nd. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 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.