Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 123,870 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 62.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 75,359 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 123,870 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Graco were worth $6,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 528,530 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,550,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,836,000 after acquiring an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graco by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 19,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Down 1.9%

Graco stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.48. 612,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,149. The business's 50 day moving average is $82.56 and its 200 day moving average is $84.13. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Graco's payout ratio is currently 38.87%.

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.