American Century Companies Inc. Sells 183,849 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 571,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 183,849 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.34% of Graco worth $45,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,229,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,846,000 after acquiring an additional 144,146 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 134.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,802,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,353,000 after buying an additional 71,788 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $152,941,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Graco by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,732,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $137,361,000 after acquiring an additional 91,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GGG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

Graco Stock Up 1.0 %

GGG stock opened at $83.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.64 and its 200-day moving average is $84.08.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $553.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. Graco had a return on equity of 22.40% and a net margin of 23.16%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

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.