Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 495,293 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 76.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 495,293 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.68% of Graco worth $96,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Graco by 26,738.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $155,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,053 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,676,000 after acquiring an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,196,000 after purchasing an additional 486,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $83.28 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.44.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.