Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 65.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 89,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 168,054 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $8,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tobam increased its holdings in Graco by 2,330.8% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Graco by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.80.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.42. 1,009,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 845,988. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.42. The company has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $69.78 and a one year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 35.17%.

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.