GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,349 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 5.5% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Graco by 7.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graco by 8.8% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Graco by 1.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Graco by 6.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $83.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

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.