Man Group plc Sells 11,078 Shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Man Group plc cut its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,078 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.05% of Graco worth $7,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,444,864,000 after buying an additional 183,335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,229,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $356,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,093 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904,681 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graco by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,179 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $196,242,000 after purchasing an additional 337,437 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graco during the 4th quarter valued at $177,434,000. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total transaction of $309,393.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graco Stock Performance

NYSE:GGG opened at $87.02 on Tuesday. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86. The firm has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.63 and its 200 day moving average is $84.65.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graco has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.

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