Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,763 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 134.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,704 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,502,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Graco by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,502,000 after purchasing an additional 286,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,775,000 after purchasing an additional 259,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Graco

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.68.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GGG. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

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.