Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 29,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,977,000.

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A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GGG. Creative Planning grew its stake in Graco by 38.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after purchasing an additional 18,262 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Graco by 136.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 15,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 8,804 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Graco by 10.6% in the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 192,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,454,000 after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Graco by 24.4% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 13,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowell Blake & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 20.8% in the second quarter. Lowell Blake & Associates Inc. now owns 62,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 10,823 shares during the last quarter. 85.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Graco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Graco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Graco Stock Down 1.2 %

GGG stock opened at $67.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.14. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.48 and a 52-week high of $72.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $555.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.72 million. Graco had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 21.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 17th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In related news, Director Eric Etchart sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $431,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,824.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Eric Etchart sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $431,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,271,824.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David M. Lowe sold 31,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.17, for a total value of $2,184,251.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 601,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,226,200.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,948 shares of company stock worth $4,096,787. Insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Graco Profile

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Graco, Inc is a manufacturing company, which engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials. It operates through the following segments: Industrial, Process, and Contractor. The Industrial segment markets equipment and pre-engineered packages for moving and applying paints, coatings, sealants, adhesives, and other fluids.

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