First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 61,706 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,535,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,706 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $130,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GGG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 330,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,592,000 after purchasing an additional 44,573 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 982.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 97.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Graco by 559.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 108,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,293,000 after buying an additional 91,708 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Graco by 4.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 21,289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Graco

Here are the key news stories impacting Graco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Graco beat earnings expectations, with adjusted EPS of $0.91 versus the $0.81 consensus, while operating earnings rose 11% year over year. Graco Reports Record Second Quarter Sales and Operating Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Management said all three business segments grew, organic orders increased at a mid-single-digit rate, and the company sees improving demand trends. Graco stock rises after earnings beat and steady outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Graco reaffirmed its full-year outlook for low-single-digit organic sales growth and issued third-quarter revenue guidance of $580 million to $600 million, easing concerns about a bigger slowdown. Graco Surpasses Q2 Earnings Estimates, Reaffirms 2026 View
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue came in below estimates at $590.6 million versus $608.1 million expected, so the quarter was mixed on the top line even though profitability improved. Graco earnings report and conference call
• Neutral Sentiment: Graco also repurchased $315 million of shares during the quarter, which supports per-share results but was not the primary catalyst for the stock move. Graco stock rises after earnings beat and steady outlook

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, Director Andrea Helen Simon acquired 1,240 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.53 per share, with a total value of $99,857.20. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $99,857.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

Graco Stock Up 5.3%

GGG opened at $77.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.68. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.51 and a 52 week high of $95.69.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 23.53%.The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 20th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.44%.

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.