Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stock Holdings Boosted by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $587,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Graco by 254.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Graco by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Graco by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,836,000 after buying an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $85.62 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.30.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. As a group, research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

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.