Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Bought by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 71,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,691 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $6,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GGG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,444,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,053,000 after buying an additional 77,093 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,242,000 after buying an additional 337,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at $177,434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $78.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.89.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Graco 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.