Flossbach Von Storch SE Sells 161,750 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Flossbach Von Storch SE cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,337,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 161,750 shares during the quarter. Graco comprises approximately 1.2% of Flossbach Von Storch SE’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Flossbach Von Storch SE’s holdings in Graco were worth $286,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GGG. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 572.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 437,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,549,000 after acquiring an additional 372,543 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 9.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,540,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Graco by 55.7% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 693,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,587,000 after buying an additional 248,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 225.4% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 223,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,670,000 after buying an additional 154,853 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Graco Stock Up 0.4%

GGG opened at $81.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.46. The company has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.54%.

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.