Fiera Capital Corp Sells 105,247 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,141,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 105,247 shares during the quarter. Graco makes up about 1.6% of Fiera Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned 3.64% of Graco worth $537,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GGG. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 220.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Graco stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.87. 68,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,215. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.28 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.29 and its 200-day moving average is $82.33.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.04%.

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.