Sei Investments Co. Sells 126,923 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sei Investments Co. decreased its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 252,357 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 126,923 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.15% of Graco worth $20,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter worth $111,428,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Graco by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,257,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $109,136,000 after purchasing an additional 856,460 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at $70,891,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,069,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Up 1.3 %

GGG stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $85.96. 53,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 742,523. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Graco's payout ratio is 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GGG. StockNews.com cut Graco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.80.

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.