BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Trims Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 3.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 182,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,542 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Graco were worth $15,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Graco by 5.5% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 3.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Graco by 7.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graco by 8.8% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, 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 transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GGG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.25.

Graco Trading Up 1.7 %

Graco stock opened at $91.08 on Friday. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.49 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.73. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.10 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.19 million. Graco had a return on equity of 21.24% and a net margin of 22.87%. Graco’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

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.