Palisade Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 14.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,652 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G Plc boosted its holdings in Graco by 2.0% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,673 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 254.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 140,417 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco in the third quarter worth $876,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in Graco by 95.1% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 17,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 8,396 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.68.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

About Graco

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.