Montag A & Associates Inc. Acquires 1,218 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $3,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,011,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,734,000 after buying an additional 22,590 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Graco by 114.0% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 6,858 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 66,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,678,000 after buying an additional 16,120 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Graco from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.25.

Graco Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $83.34. The company had a trading volume of 431,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,853. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.43. The stock has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The company had revenue of $492.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $536.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Angela F. Wordell sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.60, for a total value of $335,836.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jody H. Feragen sold 5,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $464,772.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 44,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,144,097.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,483 shares of company stock worth $4,123,245 in the last 90 days. Company 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.