Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 772 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 772 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Graco by 320.7% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 982.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $80.92 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.41. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The firm had revenue of $543.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GGG. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Graco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $89.00 price target on Graco in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

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.