Wedbush Securities Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Graco by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Graco by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $75.70 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.58. The firm has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $75.64 and a one year high of $93.01.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.13). Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

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.