Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 18,166 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 62.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,834 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,166 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund's holdings in Graco were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GGG. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Graco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at $299,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 33.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new stake in Graco in the third quarter valued at about $1,850,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.01. The company had a trading volume of 688,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,246. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.05. The company has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco's payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business'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 $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150 over the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.25.

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.