Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Lowers Stock Position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,207 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Graco were worth $4,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Graco during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Graco by 187.8% during 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 220.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in Graco in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Performance

GGG stock opened at $92.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.03 and a 200-day moving average of $82.79. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.49 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The company has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $519.21 million for 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%. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st were paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is 36.04%.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total value of $284,004.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

About Graco

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.