WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Graco Inc. by 3.7%, selling 4,471 shares and retaining ownership of 116,837 shares valued at approximately $9.76 million.
• Institutional investors now hold about 93.88% of Graco's stock, with Northern Trust Corp and Jacobs Levy Equity Management significantly increasing their positions during the fourth quarter.
• Graco reported $0.75 EPS last quarter, missing expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 with a yield of 1.3% for shareholders.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,471 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Graco worth $9,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Graco by 149.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Graco by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 70,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,855,000 after acquiring an additional 8,490 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco during the first quarter worth about $2,335,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Graco by 150.6% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 4,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group grew its position in shares of Graco by 34.5% during the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 11,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Trading Down 0.7%

GGG stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $82.92. 112,294 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 825,407. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.04. Graco Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.06 and a 52-week high of $92.86.

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

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Graco's payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graco news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GGG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Graco in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Graco from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.50.

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.