Inspire Investing LLC Sells 10,591 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 73.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,591 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Graco were worth $312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GGG. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 128.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Graco by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $85.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.12. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.06 and a 12 month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.