Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,293 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $2,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Graco by 76.2% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 284,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after buying an additional 122,975 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Graco by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,382,000 after acquiring an additional 26,987 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Graco by 428.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 95,378 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Graco by 774.4% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 53,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,256,000 after acquiring an additional 47,540 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Graco by 1.7% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 857,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,965,000 after purchasing an additional 14,527 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE GGG opened at $84.59 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GGG shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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 research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

Graco 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.