Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,685 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Graco by 187.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 sold a total of 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230 over the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $91.08 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.49 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average price is $86.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.95.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.