Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 147,720 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,877 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 147,720 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.11% of Graco worth $16,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Graco by 134.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG purchased a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at about $111,428,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,069,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $64,502,000 after buying an additional 286,212 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.14. 689,208 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 579,519. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.58. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.80 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco's payout ratio is 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GGG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.