Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 694,171 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 12.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,853,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 694,171 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 2.87% of Graco worth $384,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the first quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Graco in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam increased its position in Graco by 90.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Down 1.5 %

Graco stock traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.59. 1,883,111 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 745,970. The stock's fifty day moving average is $82.03 and its 200-day moving average is $83.99. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco's payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

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.