Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 72,023 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,839,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 72,023 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 2.86% of Graco worth $407,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $177,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 26,738.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,841,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $155,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,053 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Graco by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,929,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,676,000 after purchasing an additional 518,462 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Graco by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,147,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $96,709,000 after purchasing an additional 495,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Graco by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,497,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,196,000 after buying an additional 486,277 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.90. The stock had a trading volume of 632,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,123. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $81.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.59. 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 $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.