Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 129,384 Shares of Graco Inc. $GGG

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. by 70%, selling 129,384 shares and retaining only 55,559 shares, valued at approximately $4.64 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their holdings in Graco in the first quarter, with notable boosts such as Bessemer Group Inc. and Farther Finance Advisors LLC improving their positions by 149.5% and 150.6%, respectively.
• Graco's latest earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $571.81 million, missing analyst estimates, along with an EPS of $0.75, slightly below the consensus of $0.78.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 70.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 129,384 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Graco were worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 149.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Graco by 13.8% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,855,000 after buying an additional 8,490 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graco in the first quarter valued at about $2,335,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 150.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group raised its stake in shares of Graco by 34.5% in the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 11,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

Graco Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of GGG stock opened at $84.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.13. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $571.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.57 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. Graco's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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