Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 137 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Graco by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 66,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,260,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 5,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its holdings in Graco by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 12,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Graco in a report on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Graco from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.75.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GGG traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, hitting $83.43. 106,384 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 722,577. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.52.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $492.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $536.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 23.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.