Sarasin & Partners LLP Grows Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 305,444 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,283 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.18% of Graco worth $25,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GGG. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 694.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,798 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 61,013 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Graco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $275,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graco by 150.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 4,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Graco by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 1,090,796 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $91,092,000 after acquiring an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Graco Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE GGG traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $85.49. 715,561 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,565. The company has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.27. Graco Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.06 and a 12 month high of $92.86.

Graco (NYSE:GGG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $528.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.98 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.00% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Graco's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 $2,373,049.60. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.