Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 32.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 673,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 323,947 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Graco were worth $50,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graco by 2,650.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Graco by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Graco by 2,540.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Graco by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research lowered Graco from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 price objective on Graco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Graco from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.00.

Graco Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Graco stock opened at $78.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.07. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.51 and a 12-month high of $95.69. The stock has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.92.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $590.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $608.06 million. Graco had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 23.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 20th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. Graco’s payout ratio is presently 37.11%.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc is a leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems and components, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1926, the company has built a reputation for innovation in spray finishing, lubrication, and fluid management technologies. Graco’s solutions are designed to address the needs of paint and coatings applicators, general industry, and process fluids in a variety of end markets.

The company’s product portfolio includes airless and air-assisted spray equipment, pumps for oil and gas applications, industrial lubrication systems, and automated dispensing equipment.