BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,542 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.11% of Graco worth $15,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco in the second quarter worth $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Graco by 187.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 220.9% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $91.08 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.73.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Graco’s payout ratio is 36.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. This represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.