Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 2,297 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Graco by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GGG. BNP Paribas raised Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $75.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.62 and its 200 day moving average is $85.58. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.64 and a fifty-two week high of $93.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

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.