Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 15,806 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,806 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.06% of Graco worth $8,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 93.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 6,464 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Graco by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $299,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Graco by 2.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 1,041.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 39,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 35,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock opened at $84.66 on Thursday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $93.01. The stock has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.66.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.