Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 4,330 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 27.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,330 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Graco were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Tobam grew its stake in Graco by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Graco by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graco Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $83.09 on Monday. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.53 and a 200 day moving average of $84.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The company had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.80.

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.