BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 48,295 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 32.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 48,295 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.06% of Graco worth $8,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc raised its stake in Graco by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 483,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,199,000 after acquiring an additional 9,673 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 254.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 195,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 140,417 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graco by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 328,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,485 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,800,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 3rd quarter worth about $876,000. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GGG. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,406,094.26. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter J. O’shea sold 18,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $1,604,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,440.16. This trade represents a 55.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,818 shares of company stock worth $2,026,230. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graco Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE GGG opened at $90.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $86.53 and a 200-day moving average of $83.00. Graco Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.49 and a 1-year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Graco’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 21st were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. Graco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.