Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,086,515 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 294,045 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.24% of Graco worth $182,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 209.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graco by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,507 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,435 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,267,000 after purchasing an additional 10,549 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,673 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Graco Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $0.89 during trading on Monday, reaching $90.40. The stock had a trading volume of 669,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 747,591. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $86.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.24. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.83. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $77.49 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. Graco's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Graco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Graco's payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $137,888.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $575,572.20. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,098 shares of company stock valued at $2,776,150. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Graco

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.