Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Position Lowered by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 532,872 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,772 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Graco worth $46,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Graco by 209.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,969 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,614,000 after buying an additional 18,931 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Graco by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graco by 16.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,507 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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 reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE:GGG traded down $1.26 on Thursday, reaching $89.11. The stock had a trading volume of 606,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,415. The company has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.49 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $86.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.16.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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 last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The firm's 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 owns 27,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O'shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on 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 owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % 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 worth $2,776,150 in the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.