Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Decreases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,076 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,207 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Graco were worth $4,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Graco by 10.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graco by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 24,936 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 93.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in Graco by 59.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,422 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in Graco during the third quarter worth $2,139,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GGG. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of GGG traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,035,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,765. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.49 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $86.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.79.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,604,337.00. Following the transaction, 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. 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.