Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. reduced its holdings in Graco Inc. by 93.3% in Q1, owning only 1,240 shares after selling 17,365 shares.
• Graco Inc. reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.75, missing expectations of $0.78, and a revenue of $571.81 million compared to the forecast of $590.57 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, with a payout ratio of 39.01% and a yield of 1.3%.

Assetmark Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 93.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,240 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,365 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Graco were worth $104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Graco during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graco by 128.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in Graco by 43.6% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,057 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Graco by 21.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,834 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GGG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.50.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graco Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $83.22. 1,256,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,303. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average is $85.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.15. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Graco Company 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.