Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN Sells 7,816 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN decreased its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 406,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,816 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN’s holdings in Graco were worth $32,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 134.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,169,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,532,000 after buying an additional 2,390,602 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG bought a new position in shares of Graco in the 1st quarter valued at $111,428,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter valued at $70,891,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Graco during the 1st quarter worth $44,069,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Graco by 106.0% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 845,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,359,000 after purchasing an additional 435,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Graco Price Performance

Shares of GGG opened at $87.64 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $82.35 and a 200-day moving average of $83.71. The company has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. Graco had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $553.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Monday, October 21st will be issued a $0.255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Graco’s payout ratio is 35.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.