Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $601,000 Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,863 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 37,859 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in Graco were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc raised its holdings in Graco by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,199,000 after acquiring an additional 9,673 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 140,417 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,485 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Graco by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Down 0.1 %

GGG stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.56. The stock had a trading volume of 472,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,550. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Graco's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 1.13%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Graco

In other news, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $137,888.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $575,572.20. This represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock valued at $2,026,230. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.