Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 149.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Graco by 13.8% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,855,000 after buying an additional 8,490 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth $2,335,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 183,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 150.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 4,806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GGG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Graco Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:GGG opened at $84.54 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.11. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.05% and a net margin of 22.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

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.