Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 300 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Graco by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 27,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Optas LLC raised its stake in Graco by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Graco by 39.1% in 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 period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graco by 1.8% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $83.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.48.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

About Graco

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.