Man Group plc Has $7.27 Million Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Man Group plc cut its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,078 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.05% of Graco worth $7,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GGG. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Graco by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 4,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in Graco by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Graco by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 484 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Graco by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graco Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE GGG traded down $0.89 on Friday, hitting $83.63. 459,093 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 821,882. Graco Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.06 and a fifty-two week high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.61.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The business had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 Graco stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price target on shares of Graco in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.