Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,886 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,223 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Graco worth $9,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Graco by 3.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 90,715 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,088 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Graco by 1.9% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 187,672 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,672,000 after acquiring an additional 3,569 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Graco during the first quarter worth approximately $328,000. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Graco by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Graco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.50.

Graco Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GGG stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $84.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 792,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 720,175. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $85.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.16. Graco Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.06 and a 12-month high of $92.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Graco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Graco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.