Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Acquires New Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 104,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,871,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Graco by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,813,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,503,000 after buying an additional 242,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,652,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,642,000 after acquiring an additional 261,126 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,057,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $332,556,000 after acquiring an additional 206,949 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.6% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,076,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,016,000 after acquiring an additional 53,126 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $161,949,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $74.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.90. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.51 and a twelve month high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.09). Graco had a net margin of 22.96% and a return on equity of 18.66%. The company had revenue of $540.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrea Helen Simon purchased 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.53 per share, with a total value of $99,857.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $99,857.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.