Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,314 Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $155,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,053 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after purchasing an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 48.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

GGG opened at $87.37 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.57 and its 200 day moving average is $84.59.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.