Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 229,416 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,839,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 229,416 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.16% of Graco worth $1,447,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 79,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,792,000 after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 93,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,076,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Graco by 6.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 42,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $1,633,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price target on Graco in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Graco Stock Up 3.4%

Graco stock opened at $82.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.42. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 22.72%.The company had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

Graco Company 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.