Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Stake Reduced by Nuance Investments LLC

Nuance Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 0.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 456,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,193 shares during the quarter. Graco accounts for approximately 1.3% of Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $39,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 220.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $87.82 on Wednesday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.59.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

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.