Trexquant Investment LP Buys 52,549 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 462.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,549 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Graco by 3.4% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 419,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,749,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Graco by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,545,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after buying an additional 374,967 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 359.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 640,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,986,000 after acquiring an additional 501,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,054,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,923,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Graco from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Graco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Graco Trading Down 5.6 %

Graco stock opened at $75.70 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.64 and a 12-month high of $93.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.83.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share 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 $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Graco’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.