Nuveen Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 313,916 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 42,489 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.19% of Graco worth $26,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Graco by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,141,579 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,444,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $356,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,093 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $244,836,000 after purchasing an additional 76,184 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $196,242,000 after purchasing an additional 337,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Graco during the 4th quarter worth about $177,434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 459,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,882. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Graco Inc. has a one year low of $72.06 and a one year high of $92.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $81.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.61.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Graco

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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