Whipplewood Advisors LLC Takes Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. National Pension Service purchased a new position in Graco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four 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, Graco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Trading Up 1.2 %

GGG stock opened at $87.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.73 and a 200-day moving average of $85.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77.

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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,217,918.84. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.