Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 191,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,860 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Graco worth $16,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $111,428,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $44,069,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,502,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Graco by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 814,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,502,000 after purchasing an additional 286,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Graco stock opened at $82.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.79 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.40.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted 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 business had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.