Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Position in Graco Inc. $GGG

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,548 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Graco were worth $5,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 9.1% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,261,000 after purchasing an additional 326,877 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,667,000 after purchasing an additional 62,761 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Graco by 1.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,737,000 after purchasing an additional 28,795 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Graco by 7.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,797,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,194,000 after buying an additional 120,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Graco by 12.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,337,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,691,000 after buying an additional 146,424 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GGG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Graco Price Performance

GGG stock opened at $81.48 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.06 and a 12 month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.07 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

Graco Company 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.