Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $7.58 Million Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 110.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,200 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned about 0.05% of Graco worth $7,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Graco by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,458,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $652,736,000 after acquiring an additional 443,141 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 652,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,061,000 after acquiring an additional 383,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after purchasing an additional 374,967 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $86.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 8,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.57, for a total value of $749,919.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,918.84. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.