Graco Inc. $GGG Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,498 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 8,606 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.19% of Graco worth $26,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Graco by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,390,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $199,667,000 after buying an additional 62,761 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Graco by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,828,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $152,737,000 after acquiring an additional 28,795 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Graco by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,392,000 after acquiring an additional 79,881 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Graco by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,166,270 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $98,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Graco by 76.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 495,293 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GGG shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.50.

Graco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.46. 555,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,786. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.03. Graco Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.06 and a twelve month high of $92.86.

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

Graco 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.