Quantbot Technologies LP Trims Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 53.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,570 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Graco were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $330,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Graco by 244.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,990,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,210,000 after buying an additional 1,412,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $137,361,000 after buying an additional 91,794 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Graco by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,069,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,775,000 after buying an additional 259,819 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 962,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,280,000 after acquiring an additional 33,563 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Graco Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GGG stock opened at $91.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.95. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.49 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of Graco stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $1,604,337.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,440.16. The trade was a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn L. Schoenrock sold 1,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction 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 approximately $575,572.20. The trade was a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.