Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $2.61 Million Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. $GGG

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,309 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in Graco by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 16,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,069,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,345,000 after buying an additional 14,903 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Graco by 55.4% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 9,811 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth $328,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 30.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 293,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,486,000 after acquiring an additional 68,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG opened at $81.59 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.46. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.08.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its 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). Graco had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $543.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Graco’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 20th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 20th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.