Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 19th, 2023

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Free Report) by 94.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Graco were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Graco by 0.3% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 82,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,000,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 0.6% during the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Graco by 6.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,372,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $173,190,000 after purchasing an additional 137,500 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Graco by 23.6% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 265,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 50,658 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 908,067 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,932,000 after acquiring an additional 197,334 shares during the period. 87.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $75.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Graco from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on GGG

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $75.46 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.17 and a 12 month high of $87.94. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.41.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $559.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $576.14 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.10% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 17th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 14th. Graco’s payout ratio is 31.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Graco news, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $543,902.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,312.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Graco news, insider Jeffrey P. Johnson sold 15,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.55, for a total value of $1,198,044.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,835 shares in the company, valued at $2,422,089.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Caroline M. Chambers sold 7,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $543,902.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,804,312.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,012 shares of company stock worth $1,970,826. Corporate insiders own 2.98% of the company’s stock.

About Graco

(Free Report)

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.