New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 17.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 292,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 59,900 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.17% of Graco worth $25,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Graco by 187.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its holdings in Graco by 90.2% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.52 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.79 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.35. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

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.